


Enter The Dragon

by fall_into_life



Series: Rising At The Fall [1]
Category: RWBY
Genre: Background Ren/Jaune/Nora, Blake is not good with people, Canon-Typical Violence, Coming of Age, Depression, F/F, Gender Dysphoria, Major character death - Freeform, Minor Character Death, Nightmares, Nonbinary Character, Panic Attacks, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Specific triggers and tags often found in the chapter notes, Taiyang being parental, Team CFVY - Freeform, Team RNJR - Freeform, Team RWBY - Freeform, Unhealthy Relationships, Yang can't into feelings sometimes, not volume 4 compliant, recovery is not linear, self-directed ableism, slight AU, sprinkles of vol 4 in strange places, sprinkles of vol 5 in strange places, this is not a love story
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-19
Updated: 2018-09-06
Packaged: 2018-09-18 12:11:00
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 89
Words: 116,419
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9384482
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fall_into_life/pseuds/fall_into_life
Summary: Once, she was the dragon: invincible, unstoppable.Now she was just Yang. Whoever that was.





	1. Fall of the Dragon

**Author's Note:**

> For those who skipped the tags: this is not Volume 4 compliant, and it is not a love story. It's a story about recovery, about growth, and about escaping the patterns of your parents.
> 
> Also, there are two seventeen year-olds kissing in this part. It's not sexualized, and it really is just kissing, so I didn't tag this as underage, but it's there.

"What time is it even?" Yang asked, hands linked behind her head as they strolled through the streets of Vale.

Weiss twitched.

Ruby, ever quick on the draw, reached into a pocket. She came up empty. A frantic search revealed no scroll, and she groaned. "Aw, man!"

"Forget it again?" Yang teased, pulling out her own scroll to check the time.

Weiss twitched again.

"Ugh, yeah," Ruby admitted, shoulders slumping.

"I'll go get it!" Yang volunteered, not liking how tense Weiss had been the entire time they'd been out.

"Um, I mean, I can get my own--"

"No, no," Yang tossed off a grin, already heading back toward Beacon, "you guys stay and enjoy!"

As soon as she got back into the building, Yang's grin dropped into a frown. It wasn't like she blamed Weiss for being on edge lately, but there wasn't anything anyone could do about it. It was the worst: someone she cared about was in pain and she was helpless to make it better.

When she opened the door to their room, it wasn't to the barely-leashed mess she expected, empty and waiting for them to come back, but to Blake, pacing from one side of the room to the other like she was stalking something. Tension radiated from her so thickly Yang could almost touch it. Another friend with a problem Yang didn't think she could help with.

"Uh, Blake?" Yang stepped into the room, tilting her head. She didn't _think_ she could help, but she was going to try. Maybe this time, it was something she could beat up.

Blake drew to a stop, her yellow eyes snapping to meet Yang's. She stayed still for a heartbeat. Yang squinted at her.

Then Blake exploded into action, stepping forward and sealing her mouth to Yang's. Yang let her eyes close, relaxing. She didn't know what to do with the secrets Blake didn't want to share, but she knew what to do when a pretty girl was kissing her. She hit the releases on Ember Celica, reaching over to drop them onto the side table, and wrapped her arms around Blake's waist.

Blake's fingers slid into her hair, scratching along Yang's scalp. Yang hummed into her mouth, pulling her closer. Blake kissed her again and again, melting into her.

"C'mere," Yang whispered, pulling Blake toward one of the beds. Blake followed, allowing herself to be tugged onto the mattress.

For a second, their eyes met, Blake's eyes much darker than they had been just a moment ago. Yang reached up, thumb tracing the corner of Blake's mouth. The other girl exhaled shakily, then pulled her back in for another kiss.

Yang wasn't sure how long they were at it before she felt her scroll vibrating in her pocket. She tried to ignore it - Blake was a really good kisser, and it wasn't like Yang had had time for that lately - but whoever it was called back. She sighed and pulled back, tilting her head in an apology.

"It's Yang," she answered the scroll, trying to figure out what that look on Blake's face meant.

"Heeeeeey, Yang," Ruby said. It took Yang a second to understand how she was calling when Yang could see her scroll if she looked over Blake's shoulder, which hey, again, kissing, remember? Made your head a little fuzzy? Anyway, Ruby must have used Weiss' scroll, which explained why there hadn't been a ringtone. "Find my scroll yet?"

"Oh, yeah, I..." Yang pursed her lips, closing one eye as she thought about how to explain this without actually explaining it. "I ran into Blake, actually. You'll be fine for a little while without it, right?"

Ruby sighed, the deeply disappointed noise of little sisters everywhere. "Fine," she said, and then in a not-whisper, "but don't think I appreciate you leaving me alone with a really, really cranky Weiss."

There was an indignant squeak in the background, and Ruby's end of the call became her and Weiss arguing. Yang shook her head, disconnecting.

Blake, silent throughout the call, watched her thoughtfully once it was over. Yang tucked in one side of her mouth, feeling like they should talk about this. Not the kissing - Yang was all about some friendly kissing - but whatever it was that had had Blake pacing in the first place. Words weren't really Yang's strength, but she could try.

"So--"

Blake pulled her closer again, and okay, they could keep kissing instead of talking. Yang was good with that.

[*]

The thing was, that really wasn't the first time one of them had gone to another for something like that.

Ruby and Yang were touchy people, even if Ruby wasn't good at going for it, but Blake and Weiss were normally protective of their personal space. At night, it wasn't a surprise that Ruby sometimes crawled into Yang's bed, or that Yang let her baby sister cuddle when she wanted to. What got Yang thinking sometimes was that Weiss had nightmares she thought the rest of them didn't know about, ones where she woke up with a gasp like a swimmer surfacing, shaking so hard Yang knew Ruby could feel it, then ended up in Ruby's bed, so close they were almost touching. She was never there in the morning, but Yang knew. All of them knew.

Okay, and there was also the nights when Yang got a little confused on her way back from the bathroom, and ended up bunking with Blake. She wasn't at her best in the middle of the night, but Blake was either dead asleep or completely awake with no in-between, and Yang would have thought that the other girl would have kicked her out as soon as she realized what happened. Instead, Yang woke up with her back pressed against Blake's, the other girl breathing steady and deep against her.

So, Blake kissing her when she was upset? It was a little more than just being in the same bed sometimes, but Yang was okay with it. She hadn't known Blake liked girls, but she hadn't really known Blake liked anybody. And if this was a thing she needed, Yang could take one for the team.

It happened another couple times before everything really exploded, but Yang didn't think she could be blamed for forgetting it for a while.

After all, losing your arm was a big deal.


	2. Facing Reality

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I altered some backgrounds a bit, which is why this fic is labelled both 'slight AU' and 'not Volume 4 compliant'. If you need to know what exactly I changed (or who the minor character death concerns), scroll down to the notes at the end of the chapter.

Yang didn't know how much of that fight she actually remembered, and how much her nightmares made up. Every night, she watched her own blood splashed across pavement, smelled dirt and that distinct musky something that marked every White Fang that she'd ever fought against. The flash of _his_ sword, her own arm lying on the ground. Then Blake pulling her away, limping through the city like she'd lost a leg instead of--

And then Blake disappeared. Qrow and Ruby got her back to Dad, back to a house she hadn't wanted to live in again until she was _somebody_ , a Huntress good enough to have a name and a reputation.

Four months, and she still couldn't look at herself in the mirror. Four months, and Ruby's been gone for three. Three months of her and Dad and sometimes Qrow. But no Ruby. No Weiss.

No Blake.

"Hey, Little Dragon." The door to her room opened. Yang clenched her jaw. "I've got breakfast going in the kitchen."

"I'm not hungry."

She didn't feel like talking, either, but she'd learned over the past couple months that she didn't get anywhere not talking to Dad. He would just keep pushing and keep pushing and... it was harder to not talk than talk, these days.

"Gotta eat something," Dad said, leaning up against the doorframe.

Did she? She didn't agree.

"I got a letter from Ruby," Dad coaxed, "I was gonna read it at breakfast."

That pricked at her. Ruby. They get one letter every few weeks. It was part because Ruby was bad at writing letters, and part because she didn't have time. She'd been busy tracking down Cinder, trying to figure out what happened on top of the tower. Without Yang, because she was useless. All those years spent making her body into a weapon, and now it was broken.

_'Dear Dad (and Yang!),_

_Just wanted to let you know before you read the rest of this that I'm okay. So is everybody else. But for a little while, there... we kind of weren't.'_

Yang's fingers curl into a fist, hidden below the table. They were having a rough time of it. There were more Grimm around than ever, and they still didn't know if Cinder, Mercury, and Emerald are all still alive, let alone where they were. Ruby didn't say it outright, but Yang knew Jaune, Ren, and Nora were still mourning Pyrrha. Ruby didn't mention Blake at all.

"They could use someone to help," Dad said quietly.

Yang stood, the chair screeching backwards behind her. "Yeah. Too bad it won't be me."

[*]

It was another two months before someone else showed up.

"Someone's here to see you," Dad told her. His face was tight; not the forced calm he had when trying to coax her into doing things, but something upset. Maybe something angry.

"If it's Ruby..."

"It's not."

Yang looked up, frowning. Her dad never interrupted people. Now he was being short and it was weird.

"You should meet her outside," Taiyang said. "I don't think either of us wants her in the house."

Weiss, Yang figured, sighing and throwing her legs over the side of the bed. No, she didn't want Weiss in the house, pretending she wasn't being snooty and rich and judgey but totally being snooty and rich and judgey, but Yang knew better than most that Weiss didn't give up when she wanted something.

Her hand automatically reached for Ember Celica on her way out, habit from long before... that... happened. Taiyang's hand came down on hers, and he shook his head. She frowned harder.

"Dad?"

"Trust me."

She did. Whatever else changed, she still trusted her dad.

When Yang opened the front door, no one was there. She frowned, stepping out. Weiss didn't play games. She knew how to do the rich-people-games but didn't play them with her team, or even really around them if she didn't have to.

"Weiss?"

A soft landing sound off to her left, and Yang twisted around to face her old teammate.

Her heart stopped. It was Blake, not Weiss.

Strong, beautiful, _cowardly_ Blake.

She stood tall, wearing the white-on-black of her hunting outfit, Gambol Shroud sheathed on her back. Her yellow eyes shone in the late morning light. There was no bow hiding her ears, and they stood free, openly identifying her as a Faunus. Her throat moved as she swallowed hard, and Yang felt the complicated mess of feelings toward Blake rise up in her throat.

"Not Weiss," Blake said quietly.

Yang's fist clenched. "I couldn't tell."

"I..." Blake swallowed. Yang could see a vein in her neck pulsing, beating fast.

"Where have you been?" Yang demanded, trying not to shout. 

Anger seared through her veins, her Aura struggling to activate. It would be so easy to just let it, to feel the Aura pulsing through her veins, that power every time she fought but-- but she wasn't powerful any more. She was broken.

"I..." Blake broke eye contact, tilting her head to the side. She reached into her satchel, pulling something out and tossing it so it fell on the ground in front of Yang.

It was the mask of the man who cut off her arm.

Yang tensed, then shuddered, her entire body rolling with disgust and fear. She saw that mask in her nightmares, the face below it smiling too-wide as she watched her arm fall to the ground. She knew it better than she knew her own reflection, and the smothering feeling of hatred and fear was too much for her to deal with.

"He's dead," Blake said quietly.

Yang didn't answer, squeezing her eyes shut. Deep breaths. She was awake, not asleep. It had already happened, and was done. Not still happening.

"I... it took a while. I had to track him down through his proxies, get him alone..." Blake took a deep breath. "And then kill him."

"And you couldn't tell anyone what you were doing? You disappeared after-after that, and couldn't write even once? Call?" Yang opened her eyes, jaw clenched so tight she could barely speak. "For all I knew - all we knew - you could have been dead, Blake. _Dead_."

Something flickered in Blake's eyes. "I-- you saw me after Adam... after that fight. You knew I survived."

"And after that?" Yang growled, feeling that heady power of Aura threatening to steal through her veins, "there are more Grimm than ever, and you were on your own." 

She exhaled. Something tickled at the back of her mind, some link-- "Adam. Your mentor. That wasn't all he was, is it?"

One of Blake's arms pulled up so she could wrap fingers around the opposite bicep. Her eyes skittered away from Yang's. "Does it matter? He's dead now."

"It matters, Blake. You don't get to disappear for six months, show up with no explanation, and just expect me to accept you back!"

"He was... mine, once." Blake still didn't meet her eyes. "We had a disagreement about morals, and that's why I left the White Fang in the first place."

"Sure you weren't just running away again?"

Blake's head jerked up, her shoulders coming in toward her ears.

"Because it looks to me," Yang said, knowing she shouldn't and unable to stop, "like every time things get tough, you run."

Blake's face shut down completely, and she straightened up, arms falling back down to her sides. Yang hated that Blake closed off like that, hated that Yang had a part in making her do it.

"I came to tell you that Ruby needs you."

Yang shook her head. "She doesn't need someone who can't fight."

Blake's eyes were blank, without pity. "What would have done before, if someone attacked when you had a broken arm?"

"It's not just _broken_ , Blake." Yang hissed.

"It's not," Blake said calmly, "but you wouldn't think you were useless if it were, would you?"

Blake's calm stabbed into Yang. How could she just act like this was an injury, something that would _heal_ and get better?

"Why don't _you_ go help her?" Yang demanded.

"She needs her sister, too," Blake told her. A beat, then, "why haven't you gotten another arm, Yang?"

Yang froze. Nobody had been that blunt about it. Dad had danced around it, hinted, and Ruby had sent her a picture once of the newest synthetic models, but nobody had actually asked. Not once.

And... she didn't have an answer, not a real one. Every time she thought about anything like that, about even just a regular prosthetic instead of one complex enough to channel Aura and activate Ember Celica, she had to stick her head between her knees and breathe deep to get herself through a panic attack.

"You told me not to stop, once," Blake said quietly. "To just take care of myself as I went. You were right. If we had time, I'd apologize for as long as it took for you to listen to me. But we don't. Ruby is out there without any of us, and JNPR is good but they don't know her like we do, and they're still dealing with Pyrrha's death. I need you to help me get Weiss to start listening to us and stop listening to her father, and Ruby needs us to help her save the world." Blake's face stopped doing the blank thing that Yang hated, her eyes pleading. "Please, Yang. For Ruby, if not for yourself."

Yang swallowed. She was light-headed, and knew all the signs of being about to start swaying on her feet. Blake was alive, healthy, and here in front of her. The man who cut off her arm was dead, by Blake's hand. And Ruby....

"You can use Ruby's room tonight, she won't mind," Yang said quietly. "I'll... we'll talk tomorrow."

Blake studied her for a few seconds, then nodded. "Alright."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In this AU Summer Rose died when her daughters were young, but there was no moment when Yang took her kid sister in a wagon and almost died to some Grimm. When both the girls were off at Signal, Taiyang got back into an on-off relationship with Raven, who was never around when Yang was. Raven disappeared three years before the start of canon, sparking Yang's obsessive search. Instead of the canon Grimm threat that Qrow had to save them from, Yang probed too deep into Vale's underbelly and nearly died from that. Same lesson, different cause.
> 
> Why the change? Well, it's small enough to still fit with canon characterizations, but large enough to make the storyline and character development of this fic work better for me.
> 
> Oh, and Blake killed Adam Taurus, so that's the minor character death.


	3. Heading In A New Direction

Taiyang didn't say anything when Yang told him Blake would be staying with them that night. He didn't need to. The look he gave Yang spoke volumes, which must have been because of something Ruby told him, because Yang had never breathed a word.

That night, she didn't dream about Adam, the man who took her arm. She dreamed about Cinder, about Ruby fighting her alone, the rest of her current team's bodies scattered around her. Without Weiss to watch her blind spot, without Yang and Blake as her paired support, she fell. Yang smothered a scream as she shot up in bed, phantom pains from her right arm screaming across nerves that were no longer there.

She heaved in breath, trying to stop her heart from racing. She couldn't get the image of Ruby's blood out of her head, spreading out from a body that was always too small to house her spirit. For the first time, she deliberately looked down at the stump of her right arm. For a single heartbeat, she could see silvered metal extending out of it, covered by the bright yellow bangle of Ember Celica's inactive form.

It took a long time for her heart to calm down enough for her to get back to sleep.

[*]

In the morning, Yang willingly got up before noon for the first time since Beacon fell. She found Blake already awake, sitting in tense silence with her dad, while the smell of breakfast spread through the house.

"Morning, Little Dragon," Taiyang greeted her, not looking up from the pan.

"Dad," Yang coughed, a little embarrassed. She could feel him grinning at her.

Blake didn't say anything, but Yang knew she wouldn't be forgetting, either.

"I've got some things to take care of in the village," Dad said, once breakfast was served. "You'll be okay?" He didn't pretend he meant anything other than Blake being there.

Yang looked to Blake, who calmly looked back.

"We'll be fine," Yang replied.

Her father left with only a long, serious look leveled at Blake, who lifted her chin and stared right back.

Yang narrowed her eyes. There was something there, something she didn't know if she wanted to ask after or not. Depending on what Ruby told him, he could think all kinds of things about what Blake was doing here and what kind of history they had. The _easiest_ thing would be if he thought they'd been dating and it had gone wrong, but she still didn't want to have that talk with him. Or with Blake, if that's what he thought. The hardest was the truth.

Blake just sipped her tea quietly, waiting.

"What's going on with Weiss?" Yang asked, instead of asking about whatever Taiyang had said.

"Atlas has decided that peace can only be enforced if they are the ones doing the enforcing," Blake said. "And Weiss, along with her sister, are fighting on behalf of Atlas."

Yang stared. "Part of the reason she enrolled at Beacon was so she didn't have to be part of the Atlas military."

Blake nodded. "I don't know why she's doing it, but I don't think she'd listen to just me and help us with the real threat."

"So you came to me." Yang eyed her.

Blake hesitated. "That is... one of the reasons, yes."

Yang narrowed her eyes.

"I was worried about you," Blake said, dropping her eyes to the table. "I found Ruby and her new team, but neither of you were with her. I knew where Weiss was, but you weren't with them."

Yang raised an eyebrow. "You know why I wasn't."

Blake takes a deep breath. "They say Semblances can tell you a lot about a person. Ruby is unpredictable. Weiss values her family more than anything. I'm good at running away." She lifted her head, yellow eyes meeting Yang's again. "And you used to be good at using pain to get stronger."

Yang bit down on the inside of her cheek.

"I would have trusted you to watch my back with one arm over a lot of people with both," Blake said, almost too quiet to hear. "And I think I still can."

Yang shook her head. "It's been half a year, and I haven't done anything. I only have half of Ember Celica, and I don't know if I could even get another arm if Atlas has started a war."

Blake's eyes were gently chiding. "Whatever the reason why she's doing what she is, you know Weiss would find a way to get you an arm if you couldn't do it on your own."

Yang closed her eyes, knowing she was right. It could happen, if she let it. If she wanted it. If she still could.

"I'm still mad at you," Yang said, keeping her eyes closed.

"I know."

"Okay," Yang said, biting the inside of her cheek against nausea. "I'm gonna do it."

When she opened her eyes, Blake's smile was like the sun emerging from behind clouds.

[*]

"Was she your girlfriend?"

Yang didn't jump when Taiyang finally asked later that day, when Blake was out back doing weapon drills. She'd been expecting it. When she'd had time to think about it, she knew Ruby couldn't have had time to tell him the whole story, even if their dad had managed to get a coherent story out of her.

"No," Yang said, calmer than she thought she would be, "just teammates."

"With the way Beacon works," Dad said, dropping into a chair across from her, "teams end up closer than lovers."

"Is that what happened with your team?" Yang asked, not really expecting an answer.

He surprised her, however, by saying, "yeah, it is. Going by what you and Ruby have told me, your team reminds me a lot of ours. You're like me, of course," he nudged her chair with the side of his foot, and Yang couldn't help but smile, "and Ruby's like Summer."

"Which makes Blake like Raven."

It was never 'mom' or even 'your mother' when they talked about her. Only 'Raven'. She didn't deserve the title, not when she couldn't even look at Yang.

"No," Taiyang said, surprising her again, "she's more like Qrow. Did he tell you about his Semblance?"

"Bad luck."

Dad nodded. "It took him a long time to realize that he couldn't make people's choices for them, that they could care for him enough to take the risk of being around him."

Yang stared down at the table, wondering if that was part of Blake's problem. If she thought she wasn't worth the risk.

"What happened with you and Raven?"

Taiyang sighed. "She's always been intense, Raven. Stubborn. But once you're in her notice, it's... she doesn't do things by halves. You get that from her. Once we got together... It was good. It didn't stay that way, Yang, but for a while... it was really good."

Yang stayed silent. She didn't remember Raven clearly, only had Taiyang's old team photo go go on. Summer had been a great mom, and the only one Yang would call that. Raven was someone who made her dad's face go tight, who her uncle didn't talk about even though they were twins. She couldn't imagine it ever being that good between Dad and her.

He scrubbed a hand over his face. "It's late, and I know you girls are headed north in the morning." He gave her a serious look. "You trust her to have your back?"

Yang flexed the fingers of her remaining hand. "She killed the guy who took my arm. She's not going anywhere."

He let it drop, but she didn't know if he believed her. That was fine; she didn't know if she believed herself.

That night, she steeled her jaw and nailed Adam Taurus' mask to her bedroom wall. She'd spent too much time being afraid. Ruby needed her.


	4. Moving Forward

They left the next morning, heading for the port. Blake stayed quiet as they walked. Before, Yang would have found the silence unbearable, and broken it herself, coaxing Blake into talking to her. Now, she knew about silence, about needing to be alone with your thoughts.

They made it to the village, onto the boat, and halfway across the ocean before they said a word to one another that wasn't just little necessities.

"I still only have half of Ember Celica," Yang told Blake, legs drawn up to her chest and arm wrapped around them, sitting on one of the beds in their cramped room. "And I don't have time to reforge her. I know a little bit of sword and scythe from Uncle Qrow, but not enough to really... Blake?"

Blake, who had been fidgeting, now swallowed. "I..." She reached into one of her pouches, pulling out Yang's right gauntlet.

Yang's jaw dropped in shock. "How did you--"

"Adam had it."

She didn't say anything else. Blake offered up the gauntlet. Yang took it in silence, setting it in her lap. She ran her fingers over it, over the scratches she'd never gotten a chance to remove, because they'd gotten there in the battle with Adam. 

She pushed some Aura into it, watching it go into the active form. It was clean, and in perfect working order, even though it shouldn't have been after six months of neglect.

"I got it fixed in a little place on the way here," Blake said quietly. "The smith said he wasn't sure about the cosmetic damage, and I didn't want to risk it."

Yang looked up from her weapon. She reached out, gently circling her fingers around Blake's wrist. "Thank you."

One corner of Blake's mouth tilted up. "You're welcome."

[*]

They stood on the deck of the ship, watching the shore slowly come closer.

Yang could feel fatigue pulling at her, but battled it back. She was sleeping differently now. The nightmares had shifted, now mostly about Ruby and what could be happening to her without her team. Sometimes they even featured _Adam Taurus_ killing Ruby, which didn't stop being any less terrifying for all it was impossible. She didn't know if the change was a step forward, or a step back, or no kind of step at all. She'd get through it. Ruby needed her.

"I'm sorry about what I said before," Yang said, the wind carrying her words away before anyone but Blake could hear her. "About you running from him."

Blake bowed her head. "I was running, but not because of that. I didn't... I couldn't force myself to confront him, even though I knew he was wrong. So I left."

Yang reached over, resting her hand on Blake's shoulder. "What else were you going to do? We... we lost, Blake, and there was two of us. We took him on together and couldn't scratch him."

"I could have done something," Blake insisted, and Yang hooked her arm around her neck.

"Like what?"

Blake didn't have an answer. There were a lot of questions like that, after the fall of Beacon.

Yang kept close until they made landfall. Blake didn't get any closer, but she didn't pull away, either.

[*]

Yang kept her breathing steady, pulling her coat closer. It was just something she'd pulled out of she and Ruby's shared closet, the one in the hall where they kept stuff they didn't wear a lot. It kept her arm out of view, and that was all she needed it for.

Blake stepped out onto the gangplank first. She didn't look back, and Yang swallowed hard. This was Blake trusting her to move forward, to not leave her behind even though it would be so easy just to turn around, get back on the boat and sail all the way back home. She wouldn't have to think about any of this: her arm, or fighting the kind of people who could break through her Aura, her Semblance.

But then, if anything happened to Ruby, she would never forgive herself.

Yang followed Blake off of the boat, pretending it was effortless.

"So," Blake said, looking at Yang out of the corner of her eye, "are we heading for Weiss first, or getting your consultation?"

Yang bit the inside of her cheek to keep from shuddering. "We should... try getting me an arm, first."

Blake inclined her head, leading the way.

[*]

At first, Yang tried to talk her way through her pounding heartbeat, her fear sweat. It worked for a bit. She was out of practice pushing through things like this, fronting like she was completely fine when really she was screaming on the inside.

Her next resort, which seemed to unnerve the nurse working on her, was being completely silent. It got her through about half of the consultation.

"Yang," Blake said quietly.

Yang turned her head, feeling a bead of sweat trail down her temple. "Blake?"

"Do you need to leave?"

Yang clenched her teeth. "If I leave, I don't think I'm coming back. And I need this arm."

Wordlessly, Blake offered her hand. Yang seized it, trying not to squeeze too hard.

"I won't break," Blake murmured, lacing their fingers together.

Yang squeezed a little harder, and tried not to think about the whir of machinery, and what they'd bring before long.

[*]

Blake rubbed circles on Yang's back, holding her hair back as she puked.

"God, it doesn't even make sense," Yang half-laughed, half-coughed, sitting back against the bathroom wall of their hotel room. "I should be happy, right? A little training and I'll be back in action." She wiped her mouth with the back of her hand, closing her eyes. "Instead, I'm...."

Blake sat next to her, their thighs touching. "Pain doesn't always make sense. Neither does the way we deal with it."

Yang shook her head, too exhausted and sick, sick down right to her bones, to even open her eyes.

"You killed him for me. You got my other gauntlet back. I should be grateful."

"Yang, look at me," Blake said quietly.

Yang cracked open an eye. Blake turned to face her, yellow eyes intense.

"I killed him for me. For everyone. He said..." Blake's voice broke. "When he was in Vale, he said he'd destroy everything I loved. You came around the corner, calling for me, and he just looked at me and knew." Blake hesitated, but continued, "Adam said he'd start with you."

Yang's heart stuttered in her chest. She knew what Blake was saying, but--

She leaned forward, grabbing the back of Blake's neck and squeezing. "In a dirty hotel bathroom, right after I've finished puking out everything I've eaten for the past month? Not the best time to make big declarations of love."

Blake turned bright red, but raised a hand to rest on Yang's. "I know. I just wanted you to know that you don't have to do anything because of me. I... I think I would have killed him anyway. I just did it sooner, because of you."

Yang closed her eyes, leaning forward to rest her forehead in the crook of Blake's neck. Blake's arms came to wrap around her shoulders.

"It doesn't get better," Blake admitted softly, "but you get stronger."

"I'm so tired," Yang whispered.

"Your next appointment is in a few days," Blake said. "We can't stop, but we can slow down. You can get some sleep."

It was a long time before Yang fell asleep that night. Blake didn't leave her side.


	5. Pushing Through

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Updated the chapter count, 'cause I just finished Chapter Eight and it's just not gonna wrap in two chapters.

"I've got something to take care of in the city. I'll be back later tonight."

Before Yang could reply, Blake slipped out of their room, vanished into the city. Yang stared at the door for a few seconds, fingers slowly clenching into a fist. Something to take care of? Yeah, right. Either she was keeping secrets again, or she was running again.

Yang took a deep breath. It didn't matter right now. She had to go get fitted for the base of her new arm, and if Blake wasn't going to be there, she could do it by herself.

(Except, what if she couldn't?)

She went straight to not making a sound this time, not bothering with trying to play anything off. They could only use a light local anesthetic in the attachment process, or else risk things going wrong. Yang had to be as alert as possible, to tell them if she started tasting colors or hearing texture. Synesthesia, they told her, would be bad.

It hurt. Oh god, it hurt, and she wasn't used to pure pain like this, without soreness to tell her she was getting better for next time, or her Semblance taking the brunt because she was in a fight. The doctors had been very, very clear about her not using either Aura or Semblance, because then they couldn't work on her, couldn't get through the energy. Yang gritted her teeth as she forced herself to just take the pain, to not let the familiar rush of her Semblance take over.

A hand slipped into hers, and Yang almost lost control and let her Aura flare. She looked up - _Blake...?_ \- but it was just one of the attending nurses, smiling kindly.

"You can hold onto me, sweetheart," the nurse said, bringing her other hand to rest on top of Yang's.

Yang nodded and held on. It was all she could do.

(It should have been yellow eyes keeping her level, not brown.)

[*]

Yang laid on the hotel bed, too exhausted to move, but still too keyed up to really sleep. Little aftershocks of remembered pain kept shivering up her arm, and she hadn't moved it since she got into bed. It was heavier than she'd gotten used to, if only a little, and she knew she couldn't really feel her missing arm, but more than ever it felt like she could.

The door lock pinged, then the door opened. It could be anyone who knew how to pick a lock, but Yang knew it wasn't. This close, Yang knew Blake's presence better than she knew anyone who wasn't her own blood. The door closed again, and Yang shut her eyes.

Blake's steps didn't make any noise as she came closer, but then, they never did. She stood at the foot of the bed, hovering. Then:

"How did it go?"

Yang shrugged her left shoulder.

"If you... need anything...."

_'I needed you to be there,'_ Yang thought, but didn't say. She should have known better.

The light clicked off, and the other side of the mattress dipped as Blake settled onto it. When they'd rented the room, it hadn't seemed like a big deal to share a bed; it was big enough to have more space between them than the bunk beds technically had. Now, it was too close and too far all at once. Yang wanted to reach across, to feel the warmth of another person, of Blake, but she couldn't trust that Blake wouldn't run again, and maybe for longer this time.

"Goodnight, Yang," Blake whispered into the darkness.

Yang didn't reply.

[*]

"Wait, what?"

Yang frowned at the doctor. He couldn't have said what she thought he just did. They'd gotten all the way through this, through the consultation, through attaching the base of her new arm, and now this?

"Aura-capable prosthetics are restricted to Huntsmen, and members of the military," the doctor repeated patiently, "but I can easily get you a standard civilian--"

"What do you mean, _restricted_? I _am_ \--"

Blake's hand on her shoulder still cut Yang off from her angry declaration. "We're students," Blake said calmly. "Does that qualify?"

"Oh, sure," said the doctor, relieved, "if I could just see your Atlas student ID?"

A heavy pause. The doctor's eyebrows slowly came together.

"I see." He sat back in his chair. "Well, I certainly don't know what other Huntsman school you could be from if not the Atlas Academy, so I must have misheard you, yes?"

Yang opened her mouth, only to have Blake's hand squeeze warningly.

"Yes, I meant we're civilian students. That obviously doesn't qualify for the military and Huntswoman restriction." Blake nodded to him. "Thank you for your time."

"Come back if you want a standard prosthetic, those are available to all."

Blake looked to Yang, tilting her head toward the door. "We will, Doctor."

As soon as they were outside, Yang turned to Blake, seething, "ugh! I go through all that, and I can't even get an arm here?!"

"We can ask Weiss," Blake suggested quietly.

Yang sighed. She wanted to say something about Weiss not helping anybody in the past half year, but she knew it wouldn't be fair. Weiss wasn't the girl she had been when RWBY had first been formed, she wouldn't just turn her back on the team without a reason. Maybe it was a good reason and maybe it wasn't, but Yang could at least hear her out first.

"Okay," she agreed, turning back toward their hotel. "Let's go find Weiss."


	6. Family Ties

Weiss' scroll went straight to voicemail.

Yang didn't know what to say, didn't know if Weiss would be listening to her voicemail somewhere where people didn't need to know that two former Beacon students were running around Atlas. So she hung up before she got through Weiss' brief, uptight voicemail message, and dropped the scroll into her lap.

"We know where she lives," Blake said.

Yang rolled her head from side to side in something that wasn't agreement or disagreement. The Schnee Mansion address was easy to find since they were famous and had lived in the same place for so long, but Yang just didn't know how they would get _in_. If they gave their names and status, who was to say they wouldn't be arrested? If someone told Weiss that a blonde kickboxer and a Faunus with a sword were at the gate waiting for her, she'd come talk to them for sure, but Yang knew those snooty types of security didn't like to take messages from randoms. This wasn't a world she knew well, wasn't a nightclub where she could just ask for the owner and count on business sense (or curiosity) drawing them out.

"We can sneak in," Blake said, startling Yang into looking at her. It was like she'd read Yang's mind, like old times when RWBY could work around each other without more than a few brief words.

Yang tossed around the idea around her head, but couldn't think of a better one. "I'll try calling her again tomorrow, just in case." She didn't dare send her a message, for the same reason as she didn't leave a voicemail.

Blake nodded. "And if that doesn't work...."

"No snooty mansion security could keep us out," Yang scoffed. 

For a moment, she felt like herself again, like the girl who strutted into a gang-owned nightclub and demanded the owner call her _sir_. Then she caught sight of the metal ring around the stump of her right arm, and the moment passed. She wasn't that girl, might never be her again. 

She was just Yang. Whoever that was.

[*]

It was almost embarrassingly easy to sneak into Weiss' house.

The only advantage they had over anyone else was one of Blake's earth clones, that they used to climb over the wall instead of trying to vault up. If Yang's arm had been more healed from the fitting, they could have just jumped it, and it was really, really easy to get past the guards.

It took a while to figure out which room was Weiss', and probably just luck that they didn't run into Winter's room, really, but hey, luck was a part of any plan.

The second they closed the door behind them, Weiss was on her feet, Myrtenaster in hand and a time dilation glyph forming behind her. If she weren't _Weiss_ she would have almost been scary, even in her nightgown and bare feet.

"Who--" Weiss frowned, lowering her sword. "Blake? Yang? What are you doing here?"

"Hello to you too," Yang grumped.

"You didn't answer your scroll," Blake said.

Weiss dropped her arm further, until the tip of Myrtenaster touched the carpet. The glyph faded out, and she propped one hand onto her hip. "I've been on assignment for the past week, of course I didn't answer my scroll!"

"Maybe we'd have known that if you'd told anyone you were working for the Atlas military!" Yang said, temper flaring.

Weiss sighed, sitting down on her bed. She slid Myrtenaster into the sheath on the side of the nightstand, crossing one leg over the other.

"I didn't have much of a choice," Weiss said, not meeting either of their eyes.

"Uh, no, you totally had a choice. How about 'go help my teammate deal with the real problem' instead of 'help the evil empire conquer the rest of the world'?" Yang raised an eyebrow.

"Ruby's fine," Weiss said unconvincingly. "She's got a new team, and... well, I thought you'd be with them, Yang."

Yang clenched her jaw. "I can't fight with one arm, and I can't get a new one because of the stupid restrictions."

Weiss looked up, surprised. "What restrictions?"

"Only Huntsmen and soldiers can get Aura-capable prosthetics," Blake said.

Weiss frowned. "That's new but... not surprising. With tensions the way they are...."

"Can you get me a new one?" Yang asked, biting the inside of her cheek. "I mean, I can pay for it, I just don't--"

Weiss waved a hand. "Of course, Yang. You needn't worry about that."

"Are you coming with us after that?"

Weiss shook her head. "I have to stay here."

"Why?" Yang demanded.

"Because..." Weiss took a deep breath. "Because my sister is the Winter Maiden."

Yang and Blake stared at her.

"I know, it's not exactly... subtle, the Winter Maiden being named Winter. But it was passed onto her just after the fall of Beacon, and I can't leave her." Weiss turned her head, eyes closed. "I persuaded Atlas Command to assign me to her, and I can't leave. They've already targeted one Maiden, it would be logical to seek the power of another."

"And that's why we should be going after Cinder, so that can't happen," Yang said, clenching her fist. "If we take her out--"

"And if something happens while I'm out looking, my sister will still be dead!"

Yang swallowed. She couldn't deny that. But: "Ruby and Qrow both said she was good. Really good. And she's an officer, isn't she? So she should have plenty of protection."

Weiss sighed. "She isn't taking this seriously. She doesn't think that they could possibly get through Atlas security."

"They got through all of Beacon's security," Yang said, "and all the stuff that Atlas had there."

"I know," Weiss agreed, "you don't have to tell _me_. She just won't listen!"

Yang stepped forward. "Weiss, if we don't stop them, they're _going_ to come for her."

Weiss shook her head. "You can do it. Winter needs me."

"You don't know how they're doing, do you? Ruby and her new team?" Blake asked quietly.

Weiss didn't answer.

"You haven't talked to her?" Yang asked, betrayal rising in her gut.

"I've been busy," Weiss said defensively, crossing her arms over her chest.

"So busy you couldn't call even once?" Yang demanded.

Blake faded into the background.

" _Very_ busy," Weiss snapped.

"You're a coward," Yang said, pushing down the pulsing Aura that crept up. "You don't want to know how she's doing, because you know she needs you."

"Oh, and you're better?" Weiss stood, hands clenched at her sides. "What have _you_ been doing? You used to be the best fighter we had, but now you're here, talking about a new arm months after the fact. You're... you look terrible, Yang. You're too skinny, and I don't think you've been sleeping. Have _you_ called your sister lately?"

Yang couldn't reply. It was all she took to keep her Semblance from flaring, her Aura from activating. She didn't want to fight Weiss, she was just so mad at her, and--

"I think you should go," Weiss said quietly. "Come back in the morning and I'll find you a place to get a prosthetic."

Taking a deep breath to keep her temper under control, Yang left without a backward glance.


	7. Rolling With The Punches

Instead of meeting them herself, Weiss left a message with the door guard. There was an address and a time for an appointment, written neatly on a little card. That was just fine with Yang; she didn't want to talk to Weiss right now anyway. She didn't really want to talk to Blake, either, but at least Blake was _there_.

The appointment went a lot smoother than she thought it would have. The doctor didn't ask any questions, just confirmed her identity and started in on the process of choosing an arm.

The doctor also didn't tell Blake to leave, which was good because Yang was still mad at her, but didn't want to do this alone, either.

"Alright, Miss Xiao Long," the doctor said, once they'd gotten through what she wanted her arm to do, "if you're ready, we can start the attachment process--"

"What, now?" Yang asked, panic starting to bubble up.

"Well, yes," the doctor said, startled. "I assumed you'd want this as soon as possible?"

Yang opened her mouth to say no, not today, not now (maybe not ever), but caught sight of Blake out of the corner of her eye. Blake didn't need her, but Ruby did. Needed both of them, and Yang needed an arm or she wouldn't be useful.

"Alright," Yang said, mentally bracing herself. "Do it."

[*]

Pain and pain and pain and she was so sick of hurting. The doctors had tried to usher Blake out, but at Yang's dark look and Blake's stiffening, they'd quickly abandonded that tactic. Yang was sure she would have broken at least one bone in Blake's hand if not for her Aura. Whenever she could open her eyes, whenever the pain was at an ebb, Blake was there. Yang knew - _knew_ \- that Blake wasn't going to keep being there, because she never was, but God, there was so much pain it didn't even make sense and she just needed something to hold on to.

Blake didn't speak a word through the procedure, just held Yang's hand tight with one hand, and brushed her thumb across Yang's knuckles with the other. She kept up a rhythm with it, and sometimes it was all Yang could focus on, the only thing that was real.

"We're almost done, Miss Xiao Long."

The words barely penetrated her haze, but she managed to nod in response.

"Just one last connection." A pause. "This one is going to be bad, but then it's over."

Something moved on her right, a click, and then--

(she was no longer a being separate from the universe, she did not exist apart from the pain)

\--done. Nothing more than aftershocks and sweat pouring from her skin. She slumped back into the chair, trembling.

When she could focus enough to hear what was going around her, it was to the doctor instructing Blake on aftercare. Yang knew she was still pain-drunk, because the first thing that came to mind to say was, _'we're not married, you know'_. It was probably a good thing she could only groan.

"Miss Xiao Long," the doctor turned to her, expression severe. "The majority of what I have to say is contained in the papers that you _will_ be reading, but if you only listen to one thing I have to say, it should be this: no fighting, sparring, or any other sort of impacts for at least two weeks. I don't care what your papers say, I know a Huntswoman when I see one, and I know how stubborn you are. You do not want to be back in here to get your arm reattached because you've unseated it or torn it off. And God forbid you have to get your connecting piece done again; the rejection rates for second attachments are sky-high." He turned to Blake, still glaring. "You're her partner. If something happens, _you_ take care of it. Stay out of the danger zones for two weeks, and for God's sake ease back into the fighting. You're going to have to adjust to this, and it's not going to be immediate."

"Thank you," Blake said, when all Yang could do was stare and try to catch her breath. She turned to Yang, eyes softening a little. "Yang?"

" _Yeah_ ," Yang replied, drawing the word out. "Let's... go."

Yang only got out of the office because she hooked her left arm around Blake's shoulders and leaned on her the entire way. She would really like to walk on her own, but her choices were wait in the doctor's office until she felt steady enough, or trust Blake to get her back to their hotel, and that wasn't a choice. She was done with doctor's offices for the rest of her life, thanks.

"Do you need anything?" Blake asked, after Yang had swallowed two of the pills she'd been given, and flopped down onto her bed.

"Come sleep by me," Yang said, before she could think about it. They'd gotten a room with two beds this time, but hers felt too big and empty and... she missed Blake. It wasn't a good idea to ask, but she just... she missed her. She could blame it on the meds in the morning if she needed to.

Blake's yellow eyes reflected light from the lamp in the corner. She studied Yang's face, then reached over and turned out the light. In the sudden darkness, all Yang had to go on was her hearing and whatever sixth sense let her know where her family and teammates were in a room.

The other side of the mattress dipped, and Yang turned onto her left side, carefully arranging her right arm in a way where she wouldn't jostle it. Blake slid in behind her. She hesitated a moment, then rested her hand on Yang's hip.

"Yang...." Blake whispered. 

It was her quiet way of asking if it was alright, and Yang scooted backward in response. Blake's hand dropped downward, her arm wrapping around Yang's waist. Little by little, they settled into one another, until Yang could feel every breath Blake took, and was warmed by her body heat.

"Night, Blake," Yang murmured, closing her eyes.

"Goodnight, Yang."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You can find me on tumblr @ fallintolife.tumblr.com


	8. Connections

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Qrow/Winter is mentioned in this chapter. It's not tagged because it won't be getting any screentime.

Yang woke to a dull ache in her arm, and cottonmouth. She reached out to the water glass she could see on the nightstand, only to stop when she realized she was being held in place.

Looking down revealed Blake's arm, wrapped around her. She was still there, still cuddling, and apparently so deeply asleep that Yang's movement hadn't woken her.

Yang pulled her arm back, startled when she caught sight of silver. Then she remembered: she had an arm. One that she had just used without thinking about it, one that she didn't watch fall onto the pavement--

Tearing out of Blake's grip, Yang lunged for the bathroom, only barely making it to the toilet before emptying out her stomach. Her knees hit the tile hard enough to send a jolt up her spine, and her abs contracted painfully.

At some point Blake came in, gathering Yang's hair behind her.

"We've got to stop meeting like this," Yang said weakly, when her stomach stopped revolting and she could sit back against the wall. She wiped the back of her hand over the back of her mouth, gratefully accepting a glass of water from Blake.

"No big declarations of love this time," Blake said quietly.

Yang let herself lean to the side, resting the side of her head against Blake's shoulder. "I don't think I could do that with you right now."

Blake stiffened, and Yang shook her head, snaking an arm around Blake's waist. "I didn't mean it like that. I'm just... really tired. And my arm hurts."

Blake hummed in the back of her throat, relaxing. "There are painkillers in the other room."

"In a sec," Yang said, closing her eyes.

The other girl stayed quiet, letting Yang move at her own pace.

[*]

"Do you want to call Ruby?" Blake asked quietly, after they'd sorted themselves out, and Yang had had time to ride out the initial high of her painkillers.

She mulled it over, then shook her head. "I'm not gonna be able to talk to her like a normal person right now, and I don't want her worrying."

Blake nodded, pulling out her scroll and dialing Ruby. She put it on speaker, setting it on the bed between them.

"Blake?" Ruby's voice, small and tinny through the speakers. Yang's throat tightened, and it was good that Blake was going to be the one talking, because Yang didn't know if she could have.

"Ruby," Blake said, swallowing. On impulse, Yang reached out and took her hand. Blake's fingers curled around her own.

"You're alive," Ruby's voice cracked, "Blake, I was so worried--"

A question in the background, and Yang could make out the muffled sounds of Ruby explaining who she was talking to.

"I don't have much time, we're out on a hunt, but can I call you later? I missed you."

Yang's heart constricted, and she lifted her metal hand up to cover her mouth without thinking about it.

"Actually," Blake said, after a pause in which her grip on Yang's hand tightened, "I thought I could come to you. To help."

Silence.

"Ruby?"

A few more muffled sounds, and then Ruby said: "No, no, I'm here! Sorry, I dropped the scroll! That would be _great_ Blake! I'll send you the coordinates of the inn we're staying at-- where are you?"

"Atlas," Blake said, "and I'll have Yang with me when I come."

Ruby sucked in a breath. She asked, in a voice so small Yang couldn't stand it, "Really?"

"Really." Yang said, no longer able to be worried about if Ruby could hear the slight slur in her voice.

Sniffles from the other end of the line. "Okay, okay, I really have to go, but Yang-- I love you!"

"I love you, too," Yang said immediately, feeling tears prick at the corners of her eyes.

"Take care of each other, okay, guys? Bye!"

The call disconnected. Yang pulled her flesh hand back, pressing the back of it to her mouth. Blake took a deep, shuddering breath, sweeping the scroll off the bed and putting it on the nightstand.

"I shouldn't have... she's ..." Yang couldn't pull her thoughts together, mumbling against the back of her hand.

"You're going now," Blake said, moving back to lean against the wall.

Yang breathed out, leaning back. "Yeah."

"That's all you can do."

She should have done better. She should have been there.

Blake's scroll chirped. She looked over. "Ruby sent the coordinates. They're in Vacuo."

Yang frowned. "Vacuo?"

Blake shrugged. "Why not?"

"Have you ever been there?"

Blake shook her head. "I... thought about it. There's a lot less prejudice in Vacuo against Faunus, and it sounded... nice." She shook her head. "But... for once... running didn't seem like it would help. Not in a way that meant anything. Faunus were still going to be discriminated against, and I couldn't do anything about it from Vacuo. At least if I were here, I could... eventually be a visible Faunus Huntress."

Yang tilted her head. "But not visible while you were in school?"

"It's a lot harder to be _other_ when no one respects you," Blake said softly.

Yang sighed. "You don't have to tell me."

Blake shifted in place. "What do you mean?"

"Ruby... she's different. She doesn't know how to talk like the girls wanted her to, and the boys were convinced she had cooties," Yang rolled her eyes. "So she found her own friends eventually, but at first, it was really hard watching her. I helped when I could, but I couldn't always be there."

Blake reached out. When Yang realized she was reaching for the metal hand, she jerked back.

"Yang?"

"I can't," Yang said, shaking her head, "it's not-- I can't."

Blake pulled back. "I... understand." She sounded defeated, but before Yang could say anything else, she stood, throwing on her coat. "I'll be back. We should leave early tomorrow."

"Blake--"

The door slammed behind her. Yang curled her fingers into fists.

"Damn it, Blake."

[*]

"Yang?"

Her dad sounded surprised to hear from her, which was another stab of family guilt.

"Yeah. I just wanted to let you know I got my arm, and everything's okay."

Yang rested her head against the side of the bed, one leg pulled up and the other splayed out in front of her. Her metal arm curled around her stomach, covered by her flesh one, with the phone trapped between her shoulder and ear.

"That's great! Did they manage to get any of your special features in there?" Taiyang asked.

One corner of Yang's mouth tugged upward. "Yup. Didn't even sound surprised."

"Well, it's probably mostly fighters who get Aura-capable prosthetics," Taiyang pointed out. "So I'm sure they've seen stuff like that before."

"Well... they're actually restricted to Huntsmen and soldiers right now," Yang admitted. 

Silence. Then, "how did you get one?"

"Weiss."

"Weiss," Taiyang repeated. "You... went to Weiss to get yourself an arm. Even though her sister is one of the highest-ranked officers in Atlas' military."

Yang winced. "Weiss wouldn't say anything! And it's not like we're wanted criminals." Well. Blake probably was, but so far as Yang could tell, nobody actually knew that she used to be White Fang.

"An actual war could break out at any time, Yang," Taiyang said tightly, "it's bad enough you had to go to Atlas to get your arm, but you got it through Winter Schnee's sister?"

Yang huffed. "Doesn't she have a thing with Uncle Qrow?"

A pause, then, "who your uncle sleeps with--"

"Ew, Dad!"

"--is not a good judge of who you should trust. I'm glad nothing happened, but Atlas isn't safe right now."

Yang let out a breath, closing her eyes. "I can handle it, Dad."

"I know you can," Taiyang said, "but that doesn't mean you shouldn't be careful."

"I know."

They sat in silence for a bit. Then, Taiyang asked, "How are you guys doing?"

"You care how Blake is?" Yang blurted out. "I mean, you said you didn't want her in the house, and then asked if I was sure she'd have my back...."

"I worry about you. All I could get out of Ruby was that you lost your arm in a fight with someone Blake used to know, one of the White Fang, and then she disappeared after Beacon fell."

"What did you guys talk about?"

Taiyang was quiet.

"I know you talked. That look you gave her before you left the house was something, and I've never seen her glare back at anyone like that." Yang pushed, her metal fingers curling up.

"I asked her what happened, and she told me. Then I asked her what she was planning on doing with you, and she said it was none of my business. I reminded her that I'm your father, and it will always be my business who you have in your life."

Yang's jaw dropped. "You gave her a shotgun talk?! Dad, it's not like that--"

"Yang Xiao Long, that girl is in love with you," Taiyang said sternly, only the second time she could remember him interrupting her ever, "and that's not your responsibility unless you want it to be, but she left you once when you were hurt, and I needed to know if she was going to do it again."

Yang pulled other leg up to her chest, taking the phone with her flesh hand and wrapping her other arm around her legs.

"You're forgiving, and that can be a good thing," Taiyang continued, gentler, "but there comes a point where you have to do what's best for yourself. You're an adult now, and I'm not going to tell you how to live your life. But really, do you think she's going to have your back through what comes next?"

Yang looked at the empty bed across from her, where Blake _should_ be.

"I don't know," she admitted.

"You might want to figure that out before you take her into this fight with you, Little Dragon."

Yang closed her eyes. "I know."

They sat in silence for a bit, then Taiyang asked, "Yang... are you high? You've been slurring your words a little, and I know you remember our talk about--"

Yang burst out into laughter. "Just on my medication, Dad, I swear."

He chuckled. "Okay. Well, I'll let you get back to getting better. Call me later, okay?"

"Okay, Dad." A corner of Yang's mouth tilted up. "I love you."

"I love you too, Yang."

Yang stared at the bed where Blake should have been. No. There wasn't going to be a next time. Either that bed would stay empty, or Blake was going to be in it.


	9. Cycles

Blake didn't get back until just after dawn, but when she did, Yang was ready.

"Blake."

The other girl flinched, not meeting Yang's eyes. "We should get going--"

"We have to talk about this," Yang cut in.

Blake took a deep breath. "Talk about what?"

Yang's jaw clenched. "You know what! About you running off every time we start getting close again!"

Blake turned her head to the side, silent.

"I can't... I can't do this with you, Blake. I can't wonder if you're going to be around or not. We've got to go help Ruby find Cinder, and we're not RWBY without you." Yang took a deep breath. "You didn't do this back at Beacon, and we were all closer then than we are now."

"I--" Blake's voice cracked, and she cleared her throat. "It's my fault you lost your arm. I can't... I don't deserve to be like that with you again."

"That's not just up to you," Yang said, "I want you around, okay? I want us to be like we were, where I could count on you for anything."

"You'd still have two regular arms if not for me," Blake said softly.

"No," Yang said, "I'd have two regular arms if not for _Adam Taurus_."

"Who I should have stopped," Blake said immediately.

Yang shook her head. "You couldn't have known. The White Fang had never done anything like that."

"I should have known."

"Like we all should have known that Cinder, Emerald, and Mercury were gonna destroy the city?" Yang demanded, taking a step forward.

Blake shook her head, crossing her arms over her chest. "We didn't know them. I knew Adam."

"You told us he changed on you. I know you, Blake. You wouldn't be with anyone who was capable of that."

Blake drew her arms in tighter. She said quietly, "maybe I would have been."

Yang started. "What?"

The other girl shook her head. "I've been fighting someone's war since I was old enough to hold a sword. And that's what we thought it was: a war. The humans were only listening to violence, so we fought. And then they fought back. So it was a war to be treated like equals. I'm not saying it was right, but I'm saying that the person I am now is not the person I was then. I... like to think I wouldn't have gone along with him, but I ignored a lot of things he did because I loved him, or because they were working."

"And then you left," Yang said, "because he started going too far. _He _took my arm, Blake. Not you." Only a small part of her wanted to puke when she said that, and she pushed back the memory of _bloodfearpain_.__

__Blake leaned back against the door, eyes still closed._ _

__Yang squared her jaw. "You told Dad it wasn't any of his business what we were. Did you mean it?"_ _

__Blake's eyes open. "Of course I did. It's up to you who you want in your life, not--" She cut herself off._ _

__Yang lifted her chin. "Yeah, it is. And I want you around."_ _

__The other girl shook her head. "I don't know why."_ _

__"Because I love you," Yang said simply. "I don't know if I love you like you love me, but you're family, Blake. And I don't give up on my family."_ _

__She stepped forward, wrapping Blake in a hug. Blake slowly returned it, settling in with a shuddery breath._ _

__"So you can't give up on you either, okay?" Yang whispered, muffled by Blake's neck._ _

__"You know that works both ways." Blake asked softly._ _

__"I know," Yang said, stepping back. "I'm going to work on it. We both will."_ _

__"Okay," Blake nodded. "Okay."_ _

__"Good," Yang said. "Now, we've got a boat to catch."_ _


	10. Reclamation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The trigger warnings in the tags are still heavily in force, my friends.

Atlas slowly disappeared into the horizon, swallowed up by the ocean. Yang watched it go, hands resting on the ship's railing.

"It's pretty," Blake said, at her side.

"What is?" Yang asked. She was pretty sure Blake didn't mean Atlas, which was kinda dirty and had a bunch of weirdly-angled buildings.

"The ocean."

Yang blinked. "I guess so. I grew up on an island."

Blake nodded. "I've been inland for most of my life. Attending Beacon was the closest I'd been to the ocean in a long time."

They watched the water for a while. It _was_ pretty. Yang just forgot that, at some point. She didn't sleep well the first few months at Beacon, just because she couldn't hear the ocean, or smell the salt. Being back on Patch, she'd slept a lot for a lot of reasons, but one of those had been the ocean.

When Atlas was just a dot on the horizon, Blake headed inside. Yang stayed at the railing, watching the waves gather and crash against one another, and felt something strung tight inside her slowly ease.

[*]

It was much easier to promise Blake she'd work on things than to actually do it. The arm - _her_ arm - was attached, functioned in all the ways her other arm did. She couldn't spar with it yet, but that was coming. And the whole reason she'd gotten an arm was so she could help Ruby, so she could watch her sister's back as a whole person, not a useless mess.

_'Start small, Xiao Long,'_ Yang told herself, trying to work the fork between her metal fingers.

It wasn't hard to use her right hand when she forgot about it and did things without thinking. She'd been right-handed her entire life, and even after months of only having one hand, she still reached for things with her right arm. It was conscious stuff, like using her right hand for eating, that really fucked her up.

Blake didn't say a word, didn't so much as glance over, but Yang knew she was paying attention. She groaned, switching the fork to her left hand. She'd tried, it didn't work the way it should, next meal she'd try again. Whatever, she'd get it. 

A warm leg pressed against hers after the switch, comforting and solid, and Yang didn't move away.

[*]

"Yang."

Yang didn't look up from her plank position, breathing through another pushup. This was terrible; she was barely into the double-digits and she was breathing hard.

"Blake," Yang grunted, going for it again.

"You're supposed to be taking it easy," Blake said, quiet but insistent.

"I am taking it, like," she hissed through another pushup, "the easiest. I'm not even doing real pushups."

"What are real pushups?" Blake asked, with a distinct sense of 'I am going to regret asking'.

Yang grinned. She was going to regret this, too, but considering her other regrets, this was nothing. She lowered herself, paused for a breath, then pushed herself up hard enough to lift off the floor, clapping. For an instant, she felt like laughing; she'd done it! Then she remembered the 'no impacts' rule, awkwardly tried to catch herself on just her flesh arm, and ended up faceplanting on the floor.

A sigh from above, then Blake slid down the bed to sit next to her.

Before Yang could think of something clever to say, her phone rang with her dad's ringtone. She flopped over onto her back and made grabby hands toward the nightstand, where her scroll rested. Blake rolled her eyes when she got her scroll for her, but Yang totally caught a smile in there somewhere.

"Hey, Dad!" Yang chirped, stretching her flesh arm out in front of her, rolling the wrist.

"Yang. When were you going to tell me you were going to meet up with your sister?"

"Um," Yang winced. "Some time before we got there?"

" _Yang_."

"Look, Dad, Ruby needs me," Yang said, swallowing. "She's running around with a team that doesn't know her like we do, and I _know_ you know how bad that can go."

Silence on the other end of the line, then he asked, "are you sure you're ready to have her back? It's been months, Yang, and you just got your arm."

"I can't not try," Yang said.

Taiyang sighed. "I know. Just... be careful, okay? I'm going to head to Vytal; let me know when your boat comes into the harbor."

Yang started. "How did you know we were going to have a stopover on Vytal?"

"I've done a lot of travelling. Any boat going from Atlas to Vacuo is going to stop in Vytal for supplies."

"I'll let you know when we get close," Yang promised.

"Good. I love you, Little Dragon."

"Love you, too, Dad." Yang said. The connection closed, and she let her scroll fall onto her chest.

Blake didn't comment. Obviously she had heard the whole thing, but she didn't break the silence, just let Yang think.

Yang didn't want to think. She'd spent months thinking, and look where it had gotten her. She shifted over to rest her head against Blake's thigh.

"You probably agree with him, don't you?" Yang asked.

Blake didn't answer right away. She shifted, her leg not breaking contact. Then, "If you stopped taking risks for the people you loved, you wouldn't be you."

Yang inhaled. Blake was here. She said she was going to work on not giving up on herself, and by this point she had to know that meant not running. Yang trusted her. She exhaled.

She reached over, curling her fingers into Blake's palm. Blake's hand carefully closed around hers.

"Tell me we're going to get there in time," she whispered.

Blake's other hand came to rest on Yang's shoulder. "We're going to get there, and we're going to find Cinder."

Yang closed her eyes, letting herself drift off.


	11. Reforging

The nightmares shifted again. They now featured the full cast of shitty people she's met in life, killing or maiming people she cares for (including replays of her losing her arm), but now she was able to shake out of them sometimes. She could wake herself up, look over at Blake's bed, and remember that one of her people, at least, was right there, alive and whole. She could remember, sometimes even mid-dream, that she had already lived this, it was over, and there was no reason to let herself live it again.

It was their third day at sea, in the pre-dawn light after one of those nightmares, that she tapped out a message to Weiss.

_'how is working for Atlas?'_

She didn't expect a reply any time soon, already tuning into Blake's soft breathing as a way to try to get back to sleep. So when her scroll flashed with an alert, she grabbed it with a frown.

Weiss: _'Incredibly frustrating. I understand the necessity of discipline in a military unit, but my time with RWBY accustomed me to a certain amount of operational freedom and improvisation.'_

Instead of replying to that directly, Yang asked, _'what r u doin awake?'_

Weiss: _'It is 0643 where I am, and Winter insists on a frankly distasteful time for morning training.'_

Yang snickered quietly. Poor Weiss, forced awake before nine on a weekday. _'u landed a hit on her yet?'_

Weiss: _'The day after you came to visit. I had a lot of anger to work out.'_

Yang frowned, but before she could respond, another message came in.

Weiss: _'Is your arm satisfactory? I imagine doing maintenance with only one hand would be unpleasant.'_  
Yang: _'it's gonna suck, but that's what table clamps are for.'_

They kept up a stream of messages until Yang managed to fall aleep again. They weren't as comfortable as the old messages they exchanged at Beacon - Yang teasing, Weiss pretending to get upset - but they were something.

[*]

They were almost to Vytal when Blake came back to their room too quiet, too twitchy. Yang was on the floor doing crunches - not even Blake could argue about those - but she could tell something was up as soon as Blake came in.

"Hey," Yang called, coming up to wrap her arms around her legs. "What's up?"

Blake paused. Her ears twitched, and Yang could just about hear her arguing with herself.

"I got a call from Weiss," she said slowly, not meeting Yang's eyes.

"Is she okay?" Yang asked, frowning.

"She's fine," Blake said immediately. "She asked what I'd been doing since the fall of Beacon and was... unhappy... with the answer."

Yang bit the inside of her cheek, conflicted. On one hand, she didn't think Weiss really had any room to say anything about what Blake had been doing. On the other, yeah, decision to trust her or not, there was still some anger about Blake _leaving_ her like that.

"Are you good?" Yang asked.

Blake didn't answer right away. She stood, head bent, face neutral. "I will be."

Standing, Yang straightened out her shirt. "I'm gonna grab a shower. Then dinner?"

The corner of Blake's mouth quirked up, just for a second. "Alright."

[*]

Taiyang met them at the docks.

Yang broke into a run as soon as she saw him, burying her head in his neck. His arms came around her, surrounding her in that scent that always, always meant home.

"Hey, there," he murmured, a rumble she felt more than heard. She squeezed him tighter.

She let him go eventually, rubbing tears out of the corner of her eyes. "Hey, Dad."

"Looks good," he said, nodding to her arm. She fought the urge to tuck it out of view. "Does it do the thing?"

She made herself grin wide. "It totally does the thing."

Blake chuckled from behind her.

"Blake," her father said, his eyes raking across Blake's face.

"Taiyang," Blake said in return, chin lifting.

Yang did not roll her eyes, but also wouldn't lie and say it wasn't tempting. "C'mon, we've only got a few hours before the ship leaves again, and there's this restaurant on the next block with super fresh fish."

Blake's ear twitched. Her face stayed neutral, but Yang knew exactly how to get her attention.

Lunch wasn't nearly as awkward as Yang would have thought it would have been. She and her dad threw back and forth puns, Blake devoured three plates of tuna, and the time before they had to get going passed in a blur.

"Ugh," Yang said, pushing her plate away. "I'm so full. I'm gonna waddle all the way back to the boat."

Taiyang chuckled. "Me, too."

Yang paused. "Uh, what?"

"I'm coming with you!" He beamed, dropping enough lien on the counter to cover the bill. He ignored Blake side-eyeing him, standing and throwing on his coat. "I picked up a mission in Central Sanus!"

"But-but what about Zwei?" Yang protested weakly.

"Qrow has him," Taiyang said confidently. "He's been lurking around doing this and that. He could use the company."

"Uncle Qrow is not a good dog-sitter," Yang said, mind whirring over her dad coming with them on the boat.

Oh, god. He and Blake were going to kill each other. He was going to say something about them sharing a room, or about them spending all their time together, and Blake was going to murder him in his sleep. Or worse, he wouldn't say anything at all, and she'd have to deal with them glaring at each other for the whole trip. Then she'd murder them both, and have to explain everything to Ruby.

(The puppy eyes she'd get. Yang shuddered.)

"Zwei is fine," Taiyang waved a hand, leading them back toward the boat. "He'll be a good chaperone."

Yang opened her mouth to argue the point, then shut it. He wasn't wrong.

"I got a room right across from yours!" Taiyang beamed, his mouth smiling while his eyes bored into Blake's.

Yang put her head into her hands and groaned. This was her life.


	12. Breaking Point

Screw the puppy eyes, Yang was going to murder them both.

They'd gone the not-talking route, which Yang should have known. Blake was really good at shutting down people she didn't want to talk to, and Taiyang did passive-aggressive like that was his job instead of Huntsman or teacher. The only reason Yang didn't leave them to duke it out was that she didn't want to deal with aftermath.

On the way to Vacuo, they stopped at an island so small it basically had a port, a couple bars, and some beaches. Yang just about ran off of the ship, heading for a little clearing that the sailors had told her about.

"Finally!" Yang pumped Aura into Ember Celica, watching her gauntlets extend into their activated form. Her two-week restriction had been over _yesterday_ , and now she was all about getting herself back into fighting shape.

When she turned around, Blake leaned against a tree with laughter in her eyes, and Taiyang stepped up, grinning.

"Take it easy on your old man, huh?" He laughed, putting up his hands in a ready pose.

Yang scoffed. "Like you need it!"

Same as Weiss had her goal of one day beating Winter, so Yang was going to beat Taiyang. Not today, she knew, but someday.

She twitched her left arm forward, feinting. Taiyang smirked. Right leg, feint. He raised an eyebrow, tilting his head to the side. She laughed, and charged forward for real.

He ducked under her left hook, deflected the followup kick with the side of his arm. His knee came up lightning quick to tap her outer thigh. Point. She scowled, and threw another punch with her left.

"Are you going to show me what your arm can do?" Taiyang asked, cocking his head to the side to avoid the blow.

She breathed out. If she wasn't going to use it, there was no point in getting the prosthetic. She lunged, right arm leading.

The spar ended with her flat on her back, wheezing. She wasn't surprised, just frustrated. It had been so long since she'd sparred with anyone, and the two weeks on the ship had done her some good, but she wasn't even close to back to her old form.

Blake's head appeared in her sight, the other girl offering a hand. Yang sighed, taking it and forcing her sore body up. Her Aura was already working with the soreness, but she knew it was overtaxed from working on her prosthetic.

"Why don't you take a breather, Yang?" Taiyang suggested, his eyes on Blake. "I'm sure your _friend_ wouldn't mind keeping me busy!"

Yang opened her mouth to say that was a bad idea, but Blake had already nodded, stepping forward.

"Uh..." Yang said, frowning.

Blake gave her a sideways look. She knew that one. Leave it alone, Blake was saying. Yang set her jaw. Fine.

Taiyang flicked his wrists, activating his weapons. Wildfire slid out over his arms, extending to form katar-like points.

Yang shook her head. Taiyang's style was close enough to hers that she'd been able to work a lot of his moves and stances into her kickboxing base. She'd spent countless hours fighting with or against Blake, but Taiyang had never seen Blake fight.

Blake rested her hand on Gambol Shroud but didn't draw it. Taiyang took up a boxer's stance. Neither one moved. Yang could feel the tension between them, and rolled her eyes, sitting against the trunk of a nearby tree.

Yang believed in fights as a conversation. Mostly, hers were persuasion: back off, tell me what I want to know, don't mess with my people.

This one was an interrogation. With every punch, every sweep, Taiyang was asking if Blake was good enough, solid enough. It looked like Blake was giving it her all, but Yang knew better. Her Semblance, a major part of her fighting style, never came into play. Taiyang wasn't using his, either, but he didn't in spars. Blake pulled out a few of her tricks with Gambol Shroud's ribbon, but not a single afterimage, and that was her answer, Yang figured.

After a while, Blake called the spar, breathing heavily and with a few visible bruises that were already starting to heal. Taiyang nodded to her, flicking his wrists again to send Wildfire back into their inactive state.

"Good fight," he said, grinning. "We'll have to do it again sometime!"

Blake didn't reply, but there was a hint of something in her eyes. Respect, maybe.

Taiyang swaggerd back to the boat, and Yang stood, walking over to Blake. She knuckled Blake's shoulder. "People fighting for my honor? Only cool in books."

Sheathing her sword, Blake nodded. "That was only partly about you. But noted."

Yang frowned, but didn't ask. 

[*]

That night found Yang sitting on her bed, back against the wall, staring through one of the boring paintings. She knew that when Blake came back there would be questions, that Blake would be concerned, but the voice reminding her of that wasn't loud enough to make her move. Her right arm laid useless at her side, her left crossed over her body. Her thoughts crashed into one another, nothing coming together enough for her to remember it later.

The door opened. Blake. Yang continued her staring contest with the painting.

The door shut. Blake moved closer, into the space between their beds. She sat down on her own bed, staying quiet.

"I wasn't ready," Yang admitted. "For any of this."

Blake stayed silent. Yang tried to gather her thoughts, but they slipped through her fingers like sand.

"I'm sorry," Blake said quietly.

Yang turned her head to the side, lilac meeting yellow. It broke enough of the trance for her to shift a little, bringing one leg up to her chest.

"I shouldn't have pushed you. I wanted to help you with what worked for me, but you're not me, and I should have known that." Blake took a deep breath. "And I just... I'm sorry."

"I know," Yang said, because she did. She could hear it in Blake's voice, see it on her face.

They stayed in the quiet for a little while longer. Yang could feel herself starting to fall back into the trance, and shook herself out of it, turning to Blake.

"Who taught you how to fight?" Yang asked.

Blake started, then stilled, looking thoughtful. "My father. He's a mercenary swordsman. Not everyone wants to hire a Huntsman, or can, and mercenaries fill the gap. He used to take me out back with a practice sword and run me through drills."

Yang closed her eyes, listening to the story. She wouldn't later claim to be paying real attention, but it kept her grounded. When that story was over, Blake went into another one, and Yang could have kissed her for it.

Blake kept talking until Yang threw her legs over the side of the bed. Yang reached over and squeezed Blake's hand thankfully. The other girl nodded, leaning back against the headboard of her bed.

"Goodnight, Blake," Yang whispered later that night.

"Goodnight, Yang," Blake whispered back.


	13. Defying Definition

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tags added: 'gender dysphoria' , 'nonbinary spectrum character'.

Yang leaned against Taiyang, watching the ocean with him. She wasn't really happy with him about the way he and Blake had been acting, but he was still her dad.

"Have you guys talked it out yet?" Speaking of Blake.

"Dad," Yang said warningly, "I told you it's not like that."

Taiyang looked down at her, raising an eyebrow. "Whether or not it is, I meant about her being around."

Yang flushed. "I-- yeah. I think she will be. I think we're good."

"Is that good enough for you? 'I think'?"

Yang raised her chin. "I trust her."

Taiyang nodded, wrapping an arm around her shoulder. "Okay, then."

They watched the waves a little while longer, then Yang asked, "okay?"

He nodded, rubbing her shoulder. "If you say you trust her, that's all I need."

She didn't know if she believed him. Blake had said that the spar on the beach was only partly about her, but Yang couldn't think of what else might be. They hadn't spoken before Blake came to Patch-- oh. Their talk. Maybe there had been more to it than just a shotgun-style warning from Taiyang, and Blake refusing to talk to him about it.

"I don't think she's much like Uncle Qrow," Yang said quietly, hating the words even as she said them. "I think she's more like... Raven."

Dark-haired swordswoman of few words leaves a blond brawler when they were at their lowest, only coming back way later? Yeah. It wasn't like Yang wanted to think that way, but she wasn't stupid, either, and she'd have to be to not see the comparisons.

Taiyang sighed. "I don't want that for you, Yang. Any of that."

'Any of that' like Yang building a life, watching one of the foundations crumble, and shutting down. Like Blake leaving Yang and only coming around when it suited her whims. She had watched Taiyang do that for most of her life, and she wasn't going to do it. She loved her father, but she wasn't him.

Yang leaned back into his side. "It won't be like that. I won't let it. Whatever we are-- it won't be like you and her. And RWBY won't end up like STRQ."

Her father didn't reply, just held her tighter. They watched the ocean until they could see land coming up on the horizon.

[*]

"Be careful, Dad," Yang told Taiyang, wrapping her arms around him.

"Aren't I always?"

Yang snorted. "Nope."

He stepped back and posed, flexing his biceps in a strongman pose. "I don't need to be careful when I've got these guns!"

She could just about hear Blake twitch.

Yang grinned. "Taking us to the low caliber gun show?"

Taiyang pouted. "Airsoft need love, too."

She _definitely_ heard Blake twitch after that.

Taiyang straightened up. "It's just some Grimm removal. I'll be fine, Little Dragon."

Yang took a deep breath. She still remembered Summer leaving for a Grimm bounty mission and never coming back. "Okay, Dad."

When Taiyang walked down the gangplank, Blake stepped up, standing at Yang's side.

"He's good," Blake offered, "and he's been doing this a long time. He'll be fine."

Yang shifted, catching Blake's hand with her own. They watched him until he faded into the little coastal town.

[*]

That night wasn't much better than the one before, or the one before that. Yang managed not to stare at any one thing for too long, but that was about it.

"What do you want to do?" Blake asked, hesitant. "We don't have to head to Vacuo. We can go back to Patch, or even Atlas--"

"I need to see Ruby," Yang said. "I don't know if I can help with her hunt but... I need to see her."

A pause. Then, "Okay."

Yang rolled her scroll in her hand. She didn't have enough focus to really use it, but it was something to keep her hand busy.

"Ready for another story?" Blake asked quietly.

Turning her head to look at her partner, Yang said, "yeah."

Blake closed her eyes, crossing her legs. Her back settled in against the wall, with a pillow propped up behind her.

"It's strange, sometimes, living in human-dominated places," Blake said. "Being with the White Fang wasn't better, but I knew it. I was used to it. One of the things I had to get used to, leaving that, was how I was addressed. The first time a human called me 'miss', I thought he was talking to someone else."

Yang frowned, her eyebrows coming together. "Blake...."

Blake kept talking, though Yang knew she'd heard. "When I was younger, whenever I didn't fit in my skin, I would go for a run, or get in a fight. Adam asked why once. I told him about not fitting in my skin, about how something was wrong but I couldn't figure out what." She took a deep breath. "He asked me if I was a guy, inside. I told him I didn't know, but I didn't think I was a girl, either. He started using they/them words for me, and it... spread."

She shook her head. "I... didn't mean to go into that. I just meant... when I'm upset, or don't fit in my skin, I need something to ground me. Running, sparring...."

"Kissing your partner?" Yang asked. Blake nodded. Yang tilted her head to the side, studying Blake's face. "Do you want me to use different pronouns?"

Blake shook her head. "It doesn't matter. None of them are right, and the female ones don't bother me."

"Let me know if that changes," Yang told her.

Opening her eyes, Blake met Yang's gaze head-on. "Okay."

"And... thank you for telling me," Yang said, settling back into her bed.

Blake relaxed, folding her hands in her lap. "Of course. You're my partner."

Yang couldn't help the smile that broke out over her face.

[*]

When their ship pulled into the harbor of one of Vacuo's many coastal towns, Yang didn't know that she could say that she was ready. She'd managed to work out a few more times, and could eat with her right hand most of the time, but she wasn't anywhere near good enough for just _living_ with her arm, forget fighting with it.

Ember Celica circled her wrists, because lack of conditioning or not, her aim was still sharp. If it came down to it, she could support Blake long enough for them to get away.

Yang took a deep breath. "Let's go."

She touched down onto Vacuo soil for the first time with metal grafted to her arm, and an old friend at her shoulder.


	14. Getting By

Yang looked down at her scroll, checking the latest coordinates from Ruby. RNJR was constantly on the move, and there had been several updates with a new temporary base of operations.

"It's about a week west," Blake said quietly, at her left shoulder. "There are major roads through a lot of it, but for the last two days we'll be roughing it. If they move farther north, more than that."

Yang nodded, sliding her scroll shut and pocketing it. "Let's get going, then."

They picked up supplies in the town they'd arrived in, Yang eyeing her bank account. She knew RNJR had paused their search a few times to take on what work was available to a group of teenagers without formal Huntsman licensing, and she hoped she and Blake wouldn't have to do the same. Taiyang would help her out, she knew, but she didn't want to rely on him.

"How did you get by when you were gone?" Yang asked. The anger at Blake's disappearance had subsided enough that she could ask without wanting to punch something, more curiosity than burn.

Blake's eyes slid to hers. "I know where to go to take work people won't pay Hunters and Huntresses for, and how to tell when they're just being cheap, as opposed to shady."

Yang nodded, leading the way down the street leading out of town. "'Cause your dad was a mercenary, right?"

"That," Blake agreed, "and my... old crowd... took some of those contracts."

Yang stopped, blinking. "What?"

Blake drew up next to her, tilting her head. "Revolution is expensive. You have to feed, house, and clothe all the people involved, and only some of us could find decent jobs. There aren't many professions where you can disappear for a month to go sabotage a factory, then come back and go back to work. Add to that training every able-bodied person to fight, and you get a lot of people able to take on those kinds of contracts."

Yang's eyebrows came together. "So, people trying to get a low-cost contract were funding the... WF?"

"And anyone with a shady job that we didn't disagree with," Blake said.

Part of Yang wanted to ask more. What could be so bad the _White Fang_ thought it was too far? Since when did they have standards? But the part of her that didn't want to know agreed with the part that reminded her that they were on a public road, and she let it go.

They got moving again, making the most of the day's light.

(In the back of her mind, though, Yang couldn't help but keep wondering about what jobs Blake could mean. The White Fang were genocidal terrorists. What kind of sick fucks were out there in the world, to make _Adam Taurus_ shake his head and say, ' _no, we're better than that_ '.)

[*]

On day two, when they'd stopped at a roadside inn, Blake frowned down at her scroll.

"Blake?" Yang nudged her shoulder.

"Weiss wants to know where we are," Blake said.

Yang tilted her head. "And that gets frowny Blake because...?"

The other girl tapped out a response, then slid her scroll shut. "I don't know why she's asking."

Yang shrugged. She and Weiss had been talking on and off since that night on the ship. Weiss hadn't asked Yang where they were, but she had always had the habit of checking up on the rest of the team. She'd be grumpy about it, but she did it.

Blake's scroll buzzed again, and this time when she checked it, she stared down. Then she tapped it a few times, holding it up to her ear. Before Yang could ask, Blake had demanded, "you _what_."

Stepping in close, Yang heard Weiss say, "you _know_ I hate repeating myself." It was the voice she used when she knew she was wrong, but didn't want to admit it.

"And you know I hate bad jokes," Blake said dryly, which was a lie because she thought it was funny when Yang punned. She didn't show it, but Yang knew.

"If Ruby is to be believed, I don't have a sense of humor," Weiss said, still in that voice, "and besides, I would _not_ joke about a thing such as this."

"Such as what?" Yang demanded, loudly enough that Weiss could hear.

"Hello, Yang," Weiss said, "I just informed Blake that I persuaded one of the Atlasian airships to transport me to Vacuo."

Yang stopped. She turned the words over in her mind. No matter what angle she came at them, they still didn't make sense.

"No, I'm with Blake on this one: you _what_?"

Weiss huffed. "As if the three of you would manage without me!"

One side of Yang's mouth lifted. "I think we'd get by."

"I shudder to think of your definition of 'getting by'."

"How long before you get here?" Blake cut in.

"Our estimated time of arrival is 1400 tomorrow afternoon."

Yang and Blake exchanged a glance.

"No point in leaving here, then," Yang said. "Is your airship gonna take us to Ruby, or is just dropping you off?"

"The latter," Weiss said. "It was difficult enough getting transportation to Vacuo, let alone that much farther inland."

"We'll see you tomorrow, then." Blake sounded cool as ever, but Yang could see a smile in her eyes.

They cut the call, and Blake pocketed her scroll.

Yang shook her head. "I didn't think she'd come."

Blake looked thoughtful. "I didn't think she'd come this soon. Eventually, but not before we met up with Ruby."

"Why do you think...?"

"I don't know. She was so intent on keeping Winter safe." Blake frowned.

Yang reached over, laying her left hand over Blake's right on top of the bedspread. "We'll get it out of her tomorrow."

Blake's frown faded into a small smile, and Yang felt a jolt she hadn't had in a while. _'Woah,'_ she thought, squeezing Blake's hand lightly before pulling back. _'Down, girl.'_ Blake was beautiful, yeah, but this was so far from the time that they weren't even on the same continent.

"Tomorrow," Blake agreed. If she saw anything on Yang's face - and Yang had never pretended she was any good at keeping her thoughts hidden - it didn't show on her face.

That night, Yang didn't sleep well, but for the first time in a long time, it wasn't because of her nightmares.


	15. WBY

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yes, Weiss is in her V4 outfit despite this not being V4 compliant. It's a nice dress, okay?

The airship Weiss flew in on was a lot smaller than Yang would have thought.

It was sleek, all steel greys and Atlasian whites, and she couldn't tell where the weapons were, even though she knew they had to be there. The ones she had seen at Beacon ( _burning, burning, redwhiteyellow flames and she couldn't hear the screaming but she knew it was there_ ) were huge, meant to transport armies. The one that touched down in front of her was meant for small groups, small engagements.

When Weiss walked out, Yang did a double-take. She'd seen Weiss in other clothes sometimes, but she usually stuck to her white-blue jacket-and-dress combo when it came time to be serious. Now, though, she wore a darker sort of blue-grey dress that faded into a lighter blue-grey at the bottom. It was less embroidered than her old outfit at Beacon, and of a thicker material. She carried a black duffel bag, not far off of her old long-term bag, but clearly newer. Myrtenaster was still at her side, but it was the only familiar piece.

"Huh," Blake said, quietly enough that Yang only barely heard her. 

Weiss turned around when she was halfway down the ramp, arms folded across her chest and her glare in full force at some poor Atlesian soldiers. The pair of them hefted a crate upward, skittering down the ramp. She stepped to the side to allow them to get past her, watching them set the crate down on the ground just in front of the ramp.

"That will be all," she sniffed, walking the rest of the way down.

They saluted, then ran back up the ramp. It started to close, and Weiss finally looked directly at Yang and Blake.

There was something wary in her eyes, something that looked like an animal ready to bite the hand that came toward it. Maybe Yang should have stopped to think about it, or said something, but thinking and talking weren't her strong points, no matter how much of them she'd been doing lately. She was a girl who followed her instincts, and her instincts said that Weiss needed a hug.

So Yang gave her one.

Weiss stiffened at first. Then she relaxed into Yang slowly, hesitantly. Yang pulled her closer, and Weiss took a deep breath, then buried her face in Yang's shoulder. Her next few breaths came shaky, but she didn't push Yang away.

"If you continue just standing there being insufferably smug, Blake--" Weiss threatened, voice thick.

Yang blindly threw out one of her arms, groping in the direction she remembered Blake being. Her hand met Blake's, and she pulled the other girl into the hug. She and Weiss both shifted to include her, Weiss's arms finally coming up to fist in each of their jackets. Blake wrapped herself around them both. It wasn't exactly right yet, and Yang thought they all knew it, but it was closer than it had been in a long time.

God, she had missed this.

[*]

When they finally separated, fixing hair and wiping clear eyes with the silent understanding that they would never be talking about it, Weiss cleared her throat.

"Well. Aside from being a considerable tactical asset myself, of course--"

"Of course," Blake said, still sassy even though her eyes were rimmed red around the edges.

"I _also_ ," Weiss glared at Blake with maybe half the usual effort put into it, "brought a number of things you'll find useful."

She turned to the crate, crouching next to it. Weiss punched in a short sequence of numbers into the keypad, and the crate swung out two arms, displaying a stash of ammunition that would have made Ruby faint.

"Blake," Weiss held out a handful of clips for Gambol Shroud, with the colored Dust vials inside that would allow her to infuse her clones with the elements. Blake's ears twitched, and she stepped forward, taking the clips with a nod.

"Yang." A set of bandoliers with shotgun shells on them, that Yang took out of habit. She shoved them in her backpack, the hair on her arms raising.

"And of course," Weiss gestured to the remaining ammunition, "there's something there for Ruby, and her... current team."

"Including grenades?" Blake asked wryly.

"Of course," Weiss said, "let it never be said we lacked for appropriate accouterments."

Yang eyed the crate. "Are we going to have to carry that thing all the way across Vacuo?"

Weiss huffed, reaching forward to detach the empty upper part of the crate. What was left was significantly smaller, and she clicked wheels out of the bottom of it. "I'll be shipping this part back to Atlas."

Blake raised an eyebrow. "If that part only had things for us in it, why couldn't you have given it back to the soldiers, and had them ship it when they got back?"

Weiss stood, sliding out a handle so the crate resembled a wheeled backpack more than a crate of munitions. Her cheeks were flushed, and she tilted her chin upward in defiance. "They may or may not be under the impression that I was transporting an unreasonable amount of Dust for Myrtenaster."

"Weiss Schnee," Yang grinned, delighted, "did you smuggle weapons out of Atlas?"

She huffed. "And if I did?"

"I'm proud of you!" Yang hugged Weiss again, lifting her off of her feet. "I knew you had it in you, Weiss!"

Weiss shook her off, brushing imaginary lint off of the bottom of her dress, but the flush on her cheeks stayed. "Yes, well. The methods may not have been my usual fare, but they were nonetheless effective."

"Now who's insufferably smug?" Blake muttered.

Weiss snorted, but didn't reply. "Shall we get going? We have a team to reunite."

Something small and bright flickered on in Yang's chest when she looked from one teammate's face to another. It felt like hope.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I updated the chapter count, because this is not gonna wrap in five chapters.


	16. Adjustments

They caught up over the course of the next day's walk.

The big things they'd already covered, but the little things were just as important, in their way. Weiss had spent her 18th birthday pretending she wasn't furious at her father for making her celebrate it with a huge ball, and had snuck out early to get back at him, she and Winter stealing a bottle of his best wine to celebrate privately. Blake had stopped in at "the best, no seriously, _the best_ " sushi restaurant for dinner one night after she'd been forced to spend a week recovering from one injury or another. Yang had let Taiyang coax her into a movie marathon one night that she felt almost human, and for a few hours she'd been just another teenage girl, watching bad movies with her dad and eating too much popcorn.

When they stopped for the night - they managed to find a little roadside inn just in time - Blake cleared her throat.

"Should we tell Ruby you're with us?"

Weiss tilted her head in thought, leaning Myrtenaster against the wall where she could easily reach it in the night. The inn had had a room with three beds, thankfully; separating now after just getting back together wasn't something Yang wanted to handle just yet.

"No," Weiss said, after they'd all settled their bags and weapons into the right places, "I think it would be best as a surprise."

Yang exchanged a glance with Blake, who rolled her eyes but didn't comment. Yang understood perfectly. Weiss pretended like she hated how innocent and open Ruby could be, but indulged her just as much as any of them. Ruby would _love_ to be surprised by not two, but all three of her teammates coming to her, and they all knew it.

"Whatever you say," Yang said, not trying to hide a smirk.

Weiss rolled her eyes, and swept out of the room.

[*]

That night, Cinder stood over Weiss, her bow pointed at Weiss' heart. 

"I think it's time we ended this little game, don't you?" She purred. Yang watched her fingers release the bowstring, the arrow flying--

Light fell onto her face in the waking world, and Yang twitched awake. The bathroom door closed, and Yang looked over to the other beds. Blake curled on her side in one, Gambol Shroud on the nightstand. The third bed lay empty, sheets thrown back and Myrtenaster within easy reach. Yang watched, heart pounded and eyes half closed, until the bathroom door opened again, until she could see Weiss climb back into bed.

_'They're safe,'_ she told herself, ignoring the desperate urge to gather up everyone she cared about and take them to some corner of the world where they'd be safe.

She repeated it to herself until pre-dawn light leaked in through the curtain, and she managed to steal a few precious hours of sleep before they needed to leave.

[*]

Weiss didn't ask about Yang's arm. Yang never caught her looking at it, or looking confused when Yang used it. Still, Yang found herself using it less often, keeping it hidden under her jacket as they walked. She wanted to ask Blake to spar - had wanted to since they got off the boat, but had only just allowed herself to really think about it - but she knew Weiss would be there, remembering how Yang lost it, watching her fight at a much lower level than she used to. Unpleasant chills ran up Yang's body when she thought about it, and she didn't end up asking Blake to spar before they got to the coordinates Ruby had given them. And then, well. She was too busy thinking about her sister to think much about anything else.

"Yang," Blake said quietly, standing shoulder-to-shoulder with her. "Breathe."

Yang made herself take in a breath, ignoring how it came in a shuddery wave. RNJR had stayed in place because someone had claimed to see a girl who looked too much like Neopolitan for it to be a coincidence - seriously, who else dressed like that? - and they'd managed to find the work to support themselves while they were out there. They'd been out chasing a Grimm sighting when Yang, Blake, and Weiss got into town, and wouldn't be back until they'd either found the Grimm or the sun started to set.

_'Sorry, sis,'_ Ruby had texted, _'but we don't want this Grimm hurting anyone before we can find it!'_

Yang couldn't argue with that.

Weiss was keeping watch from the bell tower, with a promise to call them if she saw either Grimm or RNJR, which left Blake and Yang with nothing to do but lurk around their inn room.

Yang stepped into Blake, wrapping her arms around the other girl's neck. Blake's breath stuttered in her lungs, but after a second, she returned the hug. One hand stroked down Yang's spine, and Yang breathed her in, the smell of weapons oil and slight sweat and something that was just _Blake_. 

She relaxed bit by bit, getting her breathing uner control and feeling her heart stop hammering in her chest. Ruby was fine. She'd just texted an hour ago, she was fine, and she'd be there soon.

When she was pretty sure she wasn't either going to cry or pass out, Yang pulled back a little. She was still close enough for Blake's hands to fit comfortably on her back, and Yang gave her a sideways smile. "Thanks."

Blake shook her head. "You don't need to thank me for that."

Neither one of them moved away. Yang's eyes traced the curve of Blake's jaw, found patterns in the yellow of her eyes she'd never seen before. Then she felt that same jolt from before, the reminder that Blake was beautiful and Yang knew _exactly_ how good a kisser she was. The back of her mind tried reminding her that this was still really not the time, but another part reminded her that they'd kissed as friends before and it was fine then.

Then she saw Blake's eyes on her mouth, and her thoughts all became a chant of 'kiss her, kiss her'. She leaned in, Blake's eyes started to close--

Ruby's ringtone blared. Yang cracked an eye open. Blake swallowed. She still looked really kissable, face red and mouth _right there_ , but that was Ruby and Yang couldn't miss the call. She squeezed the back of Blake's neck in a move that was more habit than thought, and pretended she didn't go from room temperature to about a billion degrees at Blake's small moan.

Breaking away took way more effort than it ever should, and when Yang answered her scroll, she had to clear her throat twice before she could talk. "Ruby?"

"Hey, Yang!" Ruby sounded chipper, and Yang couldn't help but grin. "We're on our way back! It was just a little Grimm, and we got it!"

"That's great!" Yang said, willfully ignoring that her voice was deeper than it had been just a minute ago. "We'll see you when you get here!"

Ruby's response was a high-pitched squeal, then the line clicked closed.

Yang turned to tell Blake, only to have her heart skip a beat at the look on Blake's face. Her eyes were dark, face still flushed, and the way she was looking at Yang only had one word for it: hungry.

"They're... going to be back soon," Yang breathed, her voice having gone from slightly-deeper to slightly-higher.

Blake didn't reply. She just stood there _watching_ , and being gorgeous. She licked her lips, a slow glide from one corner to another, and god, Yang wanted her. She hadn't wanted anyone since Beacon, but heat settled into her gut like an old friend, finally welcomed home. They hadn't done anything more than kiss and cuddle before, but Yang knew exactly what she wanted right now, and it wasn't a few careful kisses before going back to the rest of their lives.

Yang took a step forward. She didn't know if it was to repeat the (really unfortunate) fact that her sister was going to be around soon, or if it was to grab Blake and start ripping clothes off. She would never know, because right as she did it, the door slammed open.

They jolted apart completely, Blake moving to rifle through her bag, and Yang sitting down so fast she bounced on the bed.

Weiss strode in. She rolled her eyes at the two of them, but didn't comment. "Ruby says she'll be here soon, and we're going to meet up with RNJR in the church. The villagers have _graciously_ agreed to give us a bit of privacy, so I will be able to supply everyone without an audience."

"Okay," Yang said, voice cracking.

Weiss rolled her eyes again, and snatched up her crate by the extendable handle, stalking out of the room.

"We should go," Blake said quietly.

Yang nodded. There was still a curl of heat in her gut, but the moment was broken, and she knew it was probably better they didn't have really rushed sex in their inn room without talking about anything. She still wanted Blake, but the more her body cooled, the more she could admit it wasn't a good idea right now.

"Yeah," she said, sighing. She brushed past Blake on their way out, brushing their shoulders together.

Walking through the inn's hall, Blake behind her, Yang couldn't help but smile. Just a little while longer, and she'd see Ruby. She couldn't wait.


	17. RWBY

Yang paced the length of the church, restless. Blake and Weiss watched her, but didn't tell her to sit down or stop pacing. That was good, because Yang didn't want to explain to Ruby how she'd murdered their teammates before she could see them.

The doors creaked open. Yang's heart stopped. She could see Ren, Nora-- Ruby. _Ruby_.

Yang started running. Ruby disappeared in a swirl of rose petals, crashing into Yang's chest. Yang held her tight, tears already streaming down her cheeks. Ruby was solid and warm in her arms, she was _there_ , she was _safe_ \--

"Yang," Ruby sobbed, clinging to her. " _Yang_."

Yang couldn't say, later, what tumbled out of her mouth. She just knew that she couldn't stop crying, couldn't stop swaying with a sister she hadn't seen in the better part of year. Relief shuddered through her body, eventually overtaken by happiness.

"Hey," she said finally, pulling back far enough to ruffle Ruby's hair.

"Hey," Ruby sniffled, managing a teary smile. She was all puffed up and red from crying. Yang was sure she was, too.

Another quick squeeze, and Yang turned her loose. Ruby wiped at her eyes, taking a deep breath. Yang's heart constricted in her chest.

"Blake!" Ruby said, jumping to wrap her arms around the other girl's neck.

Yang expected Blake to pat at her awkwardly, but the older girl folded Ruby against her, smiling. Her eyes closed, and they both looked happy and at peace. If Yang's heart did any more gymnastics, she was gonna have a heart attack.

When Ruby pulled away, she scrubbed at her eyes with the ends of her sleeves. "It's so great to have you guys here. I just wish--"

"A- _hem_ ," Weiss cleared her throat. She had her arms crossed over her chest and her hip cocked, but there was something soft in her eyes. "I know perfectly well you do not intend on saying hello to Blake but not--"

"Weiss!" Ruby cried out, crossing the space between them in a whirl of rose petals.

For all she pretended to be offended, Weiss' hands ended up on Ruby's back pretty quick. She mumbled a string of things that Yang didn't have to hear to know were her scolding Ruby without any heat at all.

Yang moved to rest one shoulder against Blake's. "Weiss missed her," she murmured, too low for the three behind them to hear her.

"We all did," Blake agreed. She pressed back against Yang, and they watch the partners reunite.

Ruby asked, just loudly enough for Yang to hear, "Weiss, are you crying?"

Weiss pushed her away, not nearly as hard as she could have. "Of course not. Now, if you're done being dramatic, I have munitions to distribute."

Yang took that as her cue to move in closer. Blake came with her, never more than a breath away, and Yang appreciated it.

Kneeling in front of the crate, Weiss punched in the code, and it unfolded. She reached in for a few clips, handing them to Ruby. Next came a few clips of something that looked like it would work for Ren's weapons, and she raised an eyebrow at the group standing across the church.

"Well?" She asked, sounding completely composed. "Are you going to come get your ammunition or not?"

Yang turned to see the three of them exchange glances.

"Uh, us?" Nora asked, blinking.

Weiss rolled her eyes. "Yes, you."

The rest of RNGR started toward Weiss, Yang and Blake standing up against the pews to make room for them.

Nora and Ren looked the same, just about, but the rifle slung across Jaune's back was familiar enough for Yang to stare. She'd sparred against Pyrrha, knew Milo when she saw it, and that was _definitely_ Pyrrha's red/gold rifle. Yang saw _black red ash_ and clenched her jaw.

The back of Blake's hand brushed against the back of Yang's, and she tried to unclench her jaw. She only succeeded in breathing normally, which was enough of a step for her to grab Blake's hand. The other girl squeezed her hand without hesitation, and when Yang looked to her, there was concern written in her eyes.

Yang shook her head. She'd be fine, she just needed a minute to remind herself that she was fine, she was here and not there. It was over.

They watched Weiss give out the ammunition, still hand-in-hand. At one point Nora looked back, blinking a few times when she saw. Yang shook her head, and Nora nodded, drawing attention to herself with a loud, grinning ramble.

"I didn't know you were friends," Blake murmured, thumb stroking along the back of Yang's knuckles.

"We sparred a lot back at Beacon," Yang said, managing to loosen her jaw. "She's actually really sweet."

"Is she?" Blake asked, sounding amused. Yang hummed in response.

When everything had been handed out, Yang reluctantly let go of Blake's hand. Even beyond having an anchor, she liked the contact, but she didn't want to try to explain them before she even knew what was going on. If anything was.

(The moment back in the inn felt like something was going on, she could admit that. She knew Blake loved her but...

...like so many other questions after the fall of Beacon, Yang didn't know if this one had an answer.)

"Hey!" Ruby said, breaking Yang's train of thought. "We should celebrate! The old gang, back together!"

"The inn does owe us a meal," Jaune said, the first time he'd spoken that Yang had heard.

"And we did get paid in alcohol last time," Ren commented quietly.

Yang stared. "You got paid in booze?"

Ruby shrugged. "We were going to save the farm anyway, might as well take the booze if they were offering."

Her stare turned into a narrow-eyed look at Ruby. "You don't drink."

"No," Ruby agreed easily, "so I'll be the one making sure everyone has enough water!"

It was hard to argue with Ruby when she really got set on something, and anyway, the thought wasn't a bad one. It had been a long time since she'd decided to relax, just let go with people she could trust. She didn't know RNJR like she did her team, but she trusted Ruby's instincts, knew that they'd had her back and combined with what she knew of them personally, that was enough.

"What d'ya think?" Yang nudged Blake while the others made plans.

"Could be fun," Blake said mildly.

"You know," Yang grinned, "I've never seen you drink."

Blake laughed quietly. "I'm sure it's not as exciting as you think."

Yang brushed the backs of their hands together. "Guess I'll find out, won't I?"

Watching the rest of the group interact, Blake nodded. "I guess you will."


	18. Reunions

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As you may have guessed, there's some drinking in here. To make this explicit: yes, everyone is 18 except Ruby. The drinking age in Remnant (and in a lot of real-world countries) is 18. As Ruby is not drinking, it's not underage drinking. There's only one decision in here that might seem like it was due to alcohol, and it already almost happened sober. Full details in the end notes for anyone who needs them. Take care of yourselves.

"Yeah!" Nora cheered. "Party!"

Ren chuckled, and the corner of Jaune's mouth pulled up. Ruby grinned right along with Nora, and Weiss rolled her eyes but didn't comment. Blake kept a straight face, but Yang could see laughter in her eyes.

"I suppose," Weiss said, as they started moving back toward the inn, "it would be unrealistic to expect Ruby to handle that sort of responsibility alone."

Ruby knocked her hip into Weiss. "Hey!"

Weiss scoffed. "Please. You are _so_ easily distractable."

They started arguing like old times, and Yang smiled. 

When they got back to the inn, Nora pulled out a rucksack and started emptying it. By the time she was done, there was enough booze to drown their entire group, including Yang (who hung out in more clubs than anyone else wanted to admit) and Nora (who could drink Yang under the table). Yang stared at Nora.

"You carried this all the way from your last village?" She asked.

Nora shrugged. "I can carry anything, if I've got enough room for it. Just gotta stick my finger in a light socket every so often."

"Didn't your parents teach you not to do that?" Blake asked dryly.

Nora snorted. "And if I had _listened_ , I wouldn't know my Semblance!"

Yang shook her head. Hard to argue with, but really scary if Nora had been anyone else.

They settled into one of RNJR's rooms. It only had two beds, but the beds had already been shoved against the wall, and there were no backpacks or rucksacks in sight, so they ended up with more floor space than they would have had in the room Yang and Blake shared with Weiss. Jaune fit himself against the headboard of the far bed and Ren sat at the foot of it. Weiss perched on the end of the other bed, Ruby a few feet away, and Yang and Blake propped themselves against the opposite wall. Yang wanted to curl a little closer to Blake, but kept herself in check. Nora cheerfully distributed the booze, getting cups from who-knew-where, then flopped in the middle of the floor on her back, occasionally lifting her head to sip from her drink.

It probably should have felt awkward, with their teams just seeing each other for the first time in months. Ruby and Nora plowed right through that, though, telling stories that they managed to involve other people in. It definitely should have been quieter than it was, since Jaune didn't talk much any more, Ren never really had, and Blake was always a closed off around people she didn't know. But Ruby and Nora got Weiss and Yang to talk, and their quieter companions chimed in every so often.

The booze ended up just being decoration, really. Ruby wasn't drinking, Weiss wasn't drinking, and while Ren and Nora were moving steadily through a bottle of something Yang didn't recognize, Nora had the tolerance of a god, and Ren didn't really seem affected. Then again, he was quiet and usually pretty still, so maybe he was ragingly drunk and Yang just couldn't tell.

This time, when Yang wanted to lace her fingers into Blake's, she gave into the urge. She still didn't know what they were doing, didn't know that she wanted to do anything, but it was comfortable and it seemed like that kind of night. Blake gave her a small smile and shifted just a little bit closer, and Yang knew it was the right call.

The night drifted on. 

Ruby rotated around the group, attaching herself to whoever she wanted. The rest of RNJR allowed it with an ease that Yang figured meant they were used to it. She kept an eye out - of course she did - but it was all comfortable, and as far as she could tell just friendly. There was something in Jaune's eyes that she didn't like, but there was so much sadness in there all the time that she didn't think she had anything to seriously worry about. Ren just leaned back against Ruby when she got cuddly, where Nora threw an arm around her shoulder without even looking, continuing her debate with Weiss. Blake ruffled Ruby's hair affectionately, and of course Yang let her hang however she wanted.

Most surprising, though, was Weiss. Weiss, who was touchy about her personal space with _everyone_ , who was always very concerned with how other people saw her (even RWBY, just less so with them), let Ruby rest her head in Weiss' lap. She didn't respond other than to roll her eyes, but just her letting Ruby touch her for more than a few seconds at a time said everything about how much she'd missed the younger girl.

Yang only had the one drink. She didn't feel like she needed another one. She was no stranger to that kind of thing, but tonight... no. Tonight she was fine with a party that felt more like just hanging out with friends, not one where she showed off for an audience. Drunk Yang was rowdy Yang, and this wasn't the time.

When it started feeling like the night was wrapping up, Yang was still awake, and a little restless. She tilted her head, catching Blake's eye.

"Come with me?" Yang asked, squeezing Blake's hand. The other girl nodded, and Yang rolled onto her feet.

It didn't take long to get to the church, and since the door was unlocked, they easily got into the bell tower.

"Trusting people," Blake commented, her hand still warm in Yang's.

"Small town," Yang shrugged. 

She'd seen both sides of it, both the small town and the big city. When you knew all your neighbors by name, leaving your door unlocked didn't seem like such a big deal. Taiyang had always locked their doors, but he was a Huntsman who made a home with a Huntress, and the rest of the town had indulged them fondly. No one else that Yang could remember had locked their doors at night. They didn't need to.

Yang opened the door to the bell area, pulling Blake down to sit next to her. The other girl settled in, leaning back against one of the supports. Their hands finally parted, and Yang felt the loss but didn't want to push. They were already in a blurry place after earlier.

"So many stars...." Blake said quietly.

When Yang turned to face her, her heart leaped in her chest. Blake's face was so open, curious and awed and appreciative. Yang knew Blake had grown up in cities, but it was something else to watch her as she discovered something that Yang had grown up with. The moment felt nothing like before, when she'd been reminded that Blake was beautiful, but that jolt from before came again, and Yang took a deep breath.

"Back at the inn...." Yang didn't know if she could finish the sentence. But oh, she wanted to.

"When we almost kissed." Blake said, picking up the thread. There was something in her voice that Yang couldn't think about just yet, not if she wanted to talk about this first.

"Yeah." She opened her eyes, searching Blake's citrine ones. "I... don't know what I want from you. I mean," she fumbled her words a little, "I do. I want you to be my partner. I just don't know if I'm... ready for something else."

"Something like..." Blake searched Yang's eyes. "...a-a relationship?"

Yang nodded, tucking her hand under her thigh so she didn't reach for the other girl. She wanted to, but touching Blake would make this harder, not easier.

"I still can't use my right arm like my left," she said quietly, looking out into the night, "and I don't know when I'll be able to. I want to get that right before I try anything else. But..." she took another deep breath, "if I were going to, I think it would be with you."

"I can wait," Blake offered quietly. "And if you decide you don't want that with me, I'll still be your partner."

Yang leaned sideways, resting her head on Blake's shoulder. That, at least, she thought she could handle. They watched the night together, watched moonlight take over as streetlights dimmed and house lights vanished.

"I still don't think I deserve you in my life," Blake whispered.

Sitting upright, Yang turned to her partner. "You deserve _better_ than me."

Blake shook her head. "There isn't anyone better than you."

Yang's breath caught in her throat. The way Blake said it, like it was just a fact of life, cut her down to the bone. Blake loved her, somehow, loved broken Yang who couldn't even sleep through the night without seeing her friends die, who could barely eat with the prosthetic limb she should be grateful to have. She shifted closer, their legs pressed together.

"Yes, there is," Yang whispered, reaching up to catch Blake's chin in her left hand, "there's you."

" _Yang_ ," Blake breathed, and the need and vulnerability and _love_ in her voice broke Yang open.

Between one heartbeat and the next, she sealed their mouths together. For a single second, she froze, her only-slightly-slowed-down brain yelling at her about doing this without asking. Then Blake moaned and clenched the front of her coat, and Yang's hand slid around to the back of Blake's neck. The other girl hissed and dipped her head, rolling into the grip, and that was the absolute end of Yang's self-control.

They kissed again and again, moving closer until Yang was straddling Blake's hips, bodies pressed tight. Blake's palms smoothed up the outsides of Yang's thighs, and Yang kept her hand on the back of Blake's neck, lightning shooting through her every time Blake groaned. Yang couldn't keep herself from responding in kind to every moan, every whimper, every choked-off noise that Blake made, and they fed off of one another, heat rising between them in a haze.

Blake's mouth opened under hers, and Yang sucked hard on her tongue, only barely managing to keep her balance when Blake's hips bucked under hers. _'You like that,'_ Yang thought, a ripple of satisfaction and desire moving through her. She did it again, and Blake's hands curled into fists, her body rolling.

Yang took one of Blake's hands and guided it to her chest, gently opening Blake's fist. Blake paused, and Yang pulled back, doubts rushing into place.

"Blake?" She managed, reaching up to frame the other girl's face with her hands. "Are you...?"

Blake searched her eyes for a few moments, then raised a hand to lay over Yang's. Her left, Yang's right.

A shudder curled her spine when Yang realized she'd used her metal hand without thinking, had _touched Blake with it_. She'd wanted Blake to touch her, then had been too worried about her to think about what she was doing. She felt tremors start up, and her breath started to wheeze in and out of her lungs.

"What do you need?" Blake asked, staying still. There was nothing but concern and love in her eyes, no disgust, and Yang didn't know if she could handle it.

"The room," Yang whispered, swallowing. "Just... take me back to the room."

Blake stood, her right hand gently taking Yang's left. She led Yang downward, thumb stroking along Yang's knuckles.

They made their way back to the room they were sharing with Weiss. The only bump was Ruby, who caught them on their way and asked quietly, "is Yang okay?"

"I'm fine, Rubes," Yang told her, scraping up half a smile at the worried look on Ruby's face. "Just tired."

It wasn't entirely a lie.

Blake laid her out in her bed, and when Yang's hand caught the bottom of her coat, she wrapped herself tightly around her partner.

If Yang dreamed that night, she didn't remember it in the morning.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yang and Blake talk about the almost-kiss from before, discussing where they're going (or rather, not going). Bad idea makeouts happen. This would have happened if they'd both been stone sober.


	19. Catching Up

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Mention of past Yang/Nora. It gets no screentime and will not be repeated, so it's not tagged.

Yang woke to Weiss moving about the room. She cracked an eyelid, watching Weiss grab her day-clothes and disappear into the bathroom. She sighed, and closed her eyes again.

With what she'd gotten up to last night, it felt like she should be hungover. There should be some kind of physical punishment, some reminder that she shouldn't be a dick. But her head was as clear as it ever was in the mornings, and she was honestly too exhausted with herself to even care that her head was cradled on her prosthetic arm. It wasn't her real arm, big whoop.

Blake shifted against her, pulling her closer in her sleep. Yang sighed, lightly running her fingers over Blake's arm. It was comfortable like this, soaking in Blake's warmth, surrounded by her scent and presence. She just... well, they were going to have to have another talk.

Weiss emerged from the bathroom. She paused in the doorway, catching Yang's eye. She flicked her eyes down to where Blake's arm was wrapped around Yang's middle. Yang shook her head, sighing. Weiss tilted her head, then mouthed 'careful' before walking off. Yeah, like 'careful' was something Yang had ever been good at.

"Mm," Blake murmured, after Weiss left and Yang settled in for a round of staring at the wall and letting her thoughts chase each other around.

Blake rolled onto her back, stretching. Yang shifted to face her. She wanted to curl into her, wrap herself around her partner and not think for a while. It was such a bad idea, for reasons that definitely included Blake's abs, the new definition in her arms, and the soft way she was looking at Yang, sleepy and open.

"Hey," Blake said, voice rough. "You okay?"

Yang nodded. "I'm okay. I..." she swallowed. "I'm sorry about last night. I said I wasn't looking for that with you, and then I kissed you anyway."

"Yang," Blake said, eyes serious. "I'll be fine. In case you didn't notice, I wasn't exactly pushing you away. Or complaining."

"Still."

Blake searched her face for a moment. Then, "I forgive you." She bit the inside of her cheek. "Is this... us... being close this way... is that okay?" She flushed, red appearing in patches on her cheeks. "Because I like this."

Yang felt warmth flood her, and she moved close enough for their bodies to touch. She still wasn't okay with herself for last night, with pushing Blake in a way that wasn't fair to either of them, but this was good. "Yeah. I... like it too."

The other girl reached out, cautiously wrapping an arm around Yang. Exhaling, Yang let herself curl into Blake, tangling their legs together. The flame in her chest stayed steady and strong, pulsing to the beat of Blake's heart.

They didn't move for a while, content to just lie there and breathe in time.

[*]

After breakfast - in which, surprisingly, no one looked hungover - Weiss seized Ruby's hand, dragging her upstairs.

"You may have her back later," she tossed over her shoulder to the remains of RNJR, "the four of us have a lot to discuss."

Yang and Blake exchanged amused looks. Same Weiss as before.

The two of them walked into the room they shared with Weiss to see Ruby sprawled out over Weiss' bed, with Weiss herself sitting up against the heaboard. Weiss looked satisfied, Ruby chattering at her about something to do with a squirrel.

"Finally," Weiss rolled her eyes, even though it hadn't taken long for Yang and Blake to follow them upstairs. 

Yang rolled her eyes right back, sitting on the end of her bed. Blake settled herself against the headboard of Yang's bed, which got a raised eyebrow from Weiss. Yang shook her head. They were about to do a lot of talking, she could tell, but her and Blake was _not_ something she wanted to talk to Weiss about when Ruby and Blake were both in the room. She didn't really want to talk about it at all, but avoiding Weiss about stuff like that never worked out the way she wanted it to.

"Ruby," Weiss said, turning to the younger girl, "how goes your investigation?"

Ruby blew air out through her cheeks. "It's not going anywhere. Every time we think we've found something, it turns out it's not anything. I _think_ we saw Emerald once, but nothing else has worked out."

"You're pretty conspicuous," Blake commented, "it might be that Cinder's group spots you and gets out before you can catch up. They've got two illusionists and an information network."

Everyone else looked to Blake.

"What?" Yang asked, speaking for them all.

Blake raised an eyebrow. "Jaune's the only one of RNJR that could pass for a normal person. Ruby, you move like a Huntress even if you didn't wear all that red. Ren is pretty, and there's his hair. Nora didn't even blend in when we were in Vale. And none of you dress anything like people in Vacuo do. You stick out. It's easy to get word of people who stick out."

Ruby tilted her head to the side. "I never thought about it like that. There's... not really much we can do about any of that, though."

Blake shakes her head. "No, there isn't. I could give you some advice, but it wouldn't help with professionals."

"So, what, we're never going to find them because we're all too recognizeable?" Weiss cut in.

"It's still possible," Blake said. "What Cinder is trying to do needs some kind of base, some way to get money. Those things can be traced."

"So... do we know for sure what they're doing?" Yang asked.

"We think she's trying to get all the Maidens," Ruby said, "but we're not... sure."

"Well," Weiss said, lifting her chin, "we know where one of the others are. Any ideas for the Summer and Spring Maidens?"

Yang shook her head, Blake and Ruby along with her. They sat in silence for a few moments.

Then, Ruby said, "well, we were thinking about going to Haven, since that's where her team during the tournament pretended to be from. They had to be students, or take somebody's place or something."

"Logical," Weiss said, ignoring Ruby's grin. "Do you have any other leads?" When Ruby shook her head, Weiss nodded. "Then, we'll consult the rest of your... other team... but that seems to be the best option."

The hair on Yang's arm raised up. She didn't know that she could do this. Nobody had said anything, but there was only one way to stop Cinder from doing anything else like Beacon, and that was fighting her. Killing her. She'd taken down Ozpin, Pyrrha, and would have killed Ruby - both Yang's fists clenched, her Semblance aching to activate - if not for whatever it was Ruby could do. 

"Do you know what you did, at Beacon?" Yang asked, trying to unclench her fists.

Ruby shook her head. "I don't know, and I'm afraid to try. I don't know if it affects just Grimm and Maidens, or people, or..." She swallowed. "Or everyone who's around."

Yang didn't push her. Her arm weighed too heavily on her to ever push Ruby about something like that.

"Shall we?" Weiss said, standing. "I believe we have plans to make."

"Actually..." Ruby sat up on the bed. "I wanted to ask Yang some stuff. We'll be down later!"

Weiss and Blake exchanged a glance. Then Weiss shrugged, Blake nodded, and they both headed for the door. Blake's thigh brushed Yang's knee on her way out, and Yang knew it had been on purpose. The ghost of a smile touched her lips.

"Um, so," Ruby dropped her eyes to the bedspread, playing with a loose thread, "easy stuff first, or hard stuff?"

Yang took a deep breath. "Easy stuff." She didn't know if she'd be able to handle the easy stuff second, didn't know if she could handle the hard stuff at all.

"How's Dad doing?" Ruby asked, looking up from the bed.

Yang snorted. "He's fine. Out on a mission."

"What about Zwei?"

"Oh, Uncle Qrow has him," Yang said, "Dad said Zwei would be a good chaperone."

"He's not wrong," Ruby shrugged. A beat, then, "Um. You and Blake...?"

Yang's breath caught in her chest. She didn't want to talk about Blake. She wanted to never stop talking about Blake. The other girl had gone about it in a bad way, but Yang might still be in her bed ignoring the rest of the world if Blake hadn't, instead of here with her sister. Being around Blake was so comfortable, but there was so much history between them, and Yang just... she didn't know where the line was, if there was a line. Maybe she never had known where it was, or maybe it kept moving.

"Yeah," Ruby said, "I thought so. I know you guys were - what did Coco say about it? - 'friends with benefits' back at Beacon--"

"What," Yang wheezed. "She said what."

"I mean, I already knew something was going on, I just didn't really know what to call it." Ruby said, not realizing she was going to give Yang a heart attack. "So I asked Coco what it was called when you were kinda with Nora but in a friendly not-dating way--"

"Please stop," Yang groaned, putting her face in her hands. 

Yes, she had slept with Nora a few times. The other girl was fun and pretty, and knew that Yang wasn't interested in a relationship. Yang had started flirting with her because she did with just about all her friends, Nora flirted back, one thing led to another. It was not Yang's fault that all her friends back at Beacon had been hot (except Jaune; still not her type), it was just a thing that happened. And if other things happened too, well. She was okay with that.

"Coco?" Yang asked finally, pulling her hands away from her face. " _Coco_?"

"Who else was I gonna ask?" Ruby said, throwing her hands up. "Weiss? Jaune? Ren?"

Yang sighed. "You couldn't have asked _me_?"

"You mean like I just did, and you freaked out?"

Yang collapsed backward onto her bed, starfishing out her arms and legs. "Stop making sense."

"Nope!" Ruby said cheerfully, full of little-sister glee. "Now dish!"

Somehow, with Ruby asking, it felt less like a crisis and more like something almost normal. Like they were back at Beacon, or Signal, or even back on Patch, just talking about life.

"I don't know," Yang admitted. "I mean, yeah, there was whatever at Beacon, but that was so long ago. Before... everything." She closed her eyes, collecting her thoughts. "She said she loves me. I love her, but... I don't know if I'm in love with her."

"Woah," Ruby said quietly. "I didn't know it was like that. I thought you guys just...."

Yang nodded, not caring if Ruby could see it. "Yeah, me too. But when..." Yang forced the words through her mouth even though they tasted like acid, "...when I lost my arm... I guess Adam told her he'd kill everyone she loved. And he... saw me... and knew."

The bed next to her dipped, and Yang cracked an eyelid. Ruby cuddled into her side, and Yang threw an arm around her shoulder.

"That really sucks," Ruby said. "I'm sorry. About everything."

Yang closed her eyes again. "It's not your fault."

"I know. It still sucks."

Ruby shifted against her. "Hey... how do you know if you're in love?"

Yang opened her mouth to answer, then shut it. She didn't know. She knew all about lust, knew about family love, friendly love. But romantic love? She'd seen it. She still remembered watching her parents tease each other in the kitchen, having a borderline food fight with cookie dough. Taiyang had come a long way since Summer's death, but he still wasn't the man that she watched lay in a sunny patch in the living room, content to just curl himself around the woman he loved. Was that what she had with Blake? She could see it... but she had also had a literal food fight with Weiss and Ruby there, and she cuddled Ruby all the time, and those were definitely not that. She didn't want to kiss either of them, that she knew for sure. But how was wanting to kiss Blake (who she knew she loved in a friendly way) any different from liking _Nora_ as a person, and also wanting to get her naked?

"I don't know," Yang said finally.

"I don't either. I was just... hoping you knew. 'Cause I don't think I've ever been in love, so I figured I should know if it ever happens."

"You'll find somebody, Ruby," Yang told her, ruffling her hair.

"Meh," Ruby said. "I'm good with friends. I just wanna know if it happens."

_'Me, too,'_ Yang thought. Out loud, she asked, "Any other hard stuff?"

Ruby sat up, pushing her fingers together. "Um...."

"Ruby." Yang sat up, gently pulling Ruby's fingers apart.

"Well..." Ruby rolled her head to the side. Then, the words coming all in a rush, "You don't really look like you like your arm and I wanted to say I could take a look at it if you want I mean I've never worked on a whole arm before but I'm pretty good at weapon stuff and machinery and--"

Yang covered Ruby's mouth with her left hand. She exhaled. "I... don't know about that, Rubes. It's not that I don't like it, I just...."

It wasn't hers. It was hers but it wasn't hers. It was attached to her body but wasn't a part of it, wasn't something she knew. Her real arm was God-knew-where, probably just bone picked clean in some burned-out building in Vale that she couldn't even point out now. This was just... something attached to her.

"Well," Ruby said when Yang pulled her hand back, "if you change your mind, I can at least do your maintenance!"

Yang put on a smile, pretending like there wasn't something sick and heavy coiled in her stomach. "I'll let you know."

"Okay."

One more thing, Yang realized. "Hey, Ruby?"

"Yeah?"

"I... don't know if I'm coming with you to Haven."

Ruby stilled, looking up at Yang. "Why not?" She didn't sound judgemental, just... curious. And a little sad.

Yang shook her head. "You really think I can help you like this?"

Ruby frowned. "Yang... I don't care about that. I want you around 'cause you're my sister, and I love you."

She didn't expect that to hurt. Yang knew Ruby didn't mean it to hurt. She meant it, meant that she wanted Yang around no matter what. Yang just... didn't _want_ that. She wanted to be useful, be a fighter the way she used to be.

"I'm not gonna make you," Ruby said, "but you know you're welcome, right?"

"I know," Yang lied, trying to smile and failing.

Ruby darted forward, wrapping her arms around Yang's waist. Yang's arms came around Ruby's shoulders. Ruby and Taiyang always felt like home, smelled like it. What would she be doing on Patch that she couldn't be doing with Ruby, if they were going to Haven? She could still shoot even if she couldn't fight toe-to-toe with the heavy-hitters, and if she was with them she could keep an eye on Ruby. Her little sister knew fights and tactics, but she didn't know cities like Yang did, hadn't dug into them the way she'd need to if they were going to find Cinder.

"Got anything else?" Yang asked into the top of Ruby's head, really hoping the answer was no.

Ruby shook her head. "No, I guess not. I'm gonna go downstairs and talk to RNJR. You coming?"

Yang shook her head. She was exhausted. No matter how many of these talks she had, they never got any easier.

"I'm gonna stay up here for a while," she said, scooting up to lay out across the bed completely.

"Okay." Ruby paused when she got to the door, fiddling with the handle. "I love you."

"Love you too," Yang said immediately, pride and guilt mixing into something toxic in her stomach.

Ruby flashed her a smile, small but real, before slipping out into the hall.


	20. Separation

It wasn't long before Blake came back to the room.

Yang was laid out on her back, spread-eagled, staring at the ceiling. She didn't hear Blake walk over - Blake didn't make noise when she walked - but she felt it. Then the bed dipped next to her.

"Hey," Blake said softly.

"Hey," Yang said, cracking an eye open. 

Blake looked down at her, concern in her yellow eyes, and Yang reached out for her hand. Blake twined their fingers together, a little of the worry easing. Yang felt the urge to kiss the back of her hand, but stomped it down. No more mixed signals.

"They're going to Haven," Blake said quietly. "They're just discussing the particulars."

"They?"

Blake nodded. "You said you didn't know if you were going."

Yang sat up, moving to rest her back against the headboard. Blake moved down with her, keeping custody of her hand.

"That doesn't mean you shouldn't go," Yang said, frowning.

Blake shook her head. "I'm staying with you." She hesitated. "Unless you don't want me to."

"No," Yang said immediately, "I always do. I just... they could use you."

A small smile tugged at the corner of Blake's mouth. "I'd rather be with you."

An answering smile broke out over Yang's face. Something swelled in her chest, hot and light at the same time, and she squeezed Blake's hand.

"They'll be fine," Blake said, squeezing back. "With Weiss there, Ruby will have her partner, and RNJR now has Dust ammunition and Weiss' name behind them." She snorted, still smiling. "You know she likes dropping it."

Yang laughed. "Yeah, she does."

She studied Blake's face, soaking her in. They could do this, she thought. She might not be able to follow Ruby into the fight like she wanted to, but she could be a support. Ruby wasn't any good at urban tracking - and Yang knew Weiss wasn't, and would be very surprised if either Ren or Nora were - but Yang was. She hadn't found Raven, but she knew how to find places to ask questions, and knew how to ask them. She wouldn't start shit the way she had with Junior - who still adored her, no matter what he said - but it was amazing what people would tell you if you flashed a little cleavage or crossed your legs the right way. Or even just asked nicely.

Yang nodded, slow but sure. "I think I should go."

Blake tilted her head to the side. "Yeah?"

"Yeah."

"Then I'll go with you."

Yang didn't know how Blake said things like that, like they were just facts. So much of Yang's life was on the edge of a coin right now, easily slipping one way or another.

But then, that wasn't true, was it? She knew she had people she loved in her life. Blake, Ruby, Weiss, her dad, her uncle. She had goals, even if she didn't know how long it would take to get there. Everything else... she would take it as it came.

"Thank you," she said, smiling.

"You don't have to thank me for that, either," Blake said, shaking her head.

Yang tugged on Blake's hand, tilting her head toward the space next to her. Blake smiled, settling in on Yang's left side. Yang rested her head on Blake's shoulder, and let herself breathe.

[*]

They didn't take long to themselves. As much as Yang wouldn't have minded just existing with Blake for a while, they had plans to make. They weren't on any kind of deadline they knew of, but there was still a sense of urgency. Who knew what Cinder was really up to, or how long it would take her to do it?

"We should split up," Blake said, after they'd gotten back downstairs. "It will be less obvious if we move in small groups."

After some discussion, they agreed that the groups should be Weiss and Ruby, Jaune with Ren and Nora, and Blake and Yang. If Cinder's group got word of any one of those groups travelling, she probably wouldn't think much of it. As a RWBY and RNJR team-up, though, she might get suspicious if she already knew they were tracking her. Plus, Blake and Yang together wouldn't ring any alarm bells, or make someone think they were necessarily going to be working with the rest of their group.

"Weiss and I should leave today," Ruby said, sounding like she was finally getting a hold on the misdirection, "Nora, Ren, and Jaune in the morning, and then Blake and Yang in the afternoon. We gotta keep in touch, too!"

Everyone agreed, nods going around the table.

"Well," Weiss said, standing, "if we're going to leave today, it may as well be now."

Ruby looked like she wanted to object, but couldn't. "Yeah, you're right."

Once the two of them were packed, the two of them said their goodbyes. Yang snagged Weiss in a hug the younger girl only pretended to huff about, then clung to Ruby.

"Be careful, okay?" Yang told her, rubbing tears out of her eyes.

"You, too!" Ruby's eyes flickered from Blake to Yang. "You guys take care of each other, okay?"

Yang managed a smile. "We will."

Blake, on the other side of Ruby, nodded.

Watching her sister set off on the road, Yang took a deep breath. They had gotten so little time together. She knew they should move quickly, but it still bugged her.

"She'll be fine," Blake murmured, brushing against her.

"I know," Yang said, hoping it was true.


	21. Taking Up Arms

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: White Rose (Ruby/Weiss) will not be riding sidecar to this fic. I know it's a popular thing in the Bumbleby section of the fandom to have White Rose on the side, but it's not where this is going. Sorry if that turns you off the story!

Seeing Nora, Ren, and Jaune off was a lot easier. Nora got a hug, the guys got waves and smiles. She and Blake watched them go, then headed back into the inn.

"How long do you think Jaune has been using Milo?" Yang asked, settling herself on the inn room floor. There was still a lot of stuff she didn't know that she could do without hitting one of the bad spots in her head, but so far crunches were fine.

"Pyrrha's rifle?" Blake asked, without missing a beat. She slid Gambol Shroud off of her back, setting it on the night stand. "I don't know."

"I'll ask Ruby," Yang said in-between crunches. Not even an hour after they'd left, Ruby had started another 'Team RWBY' group message to replace the last one.

"Weiss could probably use the distraction," Blake commented dryly, "a month of travelling with Ruby is going to burn off whatever buffer Ruby has from Weiss missing her."

Yang snorted. "Yeah, probably."

After Yang got her crunches in - not nearly as many as she used to be able to do, but better than when she was on Patch - she dropped a text into the RWBY group chat.

_Yangarang: hey how long has jaune been using milo? how did u find it anyway??_

She rolled over, wanting to get off of the floor but not having the effort for it yet.

"Done?" Blake asked, sounding amused. She'd been on her scroll the entire time.

Yang made a wheezing kind of noise that Blake would hopefully know was a yes. Her abs hurt in ways they hadn't since she was back at Signal. Progress was pain.

Her scroll chimed. She groaned, but picked it up.

_Rubes: Pyhrras parents didnt want it after they found it at beacon_  
Rubes: So Glynda called Jaune and was like  
Rubes: Do you guys want it??  
Rubes: They picked it up before they came to Patch  
Rubes: Jaunes actually a pretty good shot 

Yang snorted. "I'll believe it when I see it."

"I wouldn't be surprised," Blake said thoughtfully. She stared through one of the walls, eyes unfocused.

Yang pushed herself up, dropping onto the bed next to Blake. "Hey." She nudged the other girl. "Where did you go?"

Blake's eyes slid over to Yang's. She studied Yang's face, bringing one of her knees up to rest against her chest. She took in breaths that Yang could see were only even because they were forced, and there was something faraway in her eyes even though she was looking right at Yang.

"I don't know if I'd do as well as he has, if it were me," she said finally, so quiet Yang could hardly hear her.

On instinct, Yang slid into Blake's lap, gently straightening out the other girl's leg. Blake's hands came up to frame her face. They were a little cold, as always, callouses slightly rough against Yang's skin. Her hands shook, and Yang moved closer.

"Hey," Yang whispered, stroking her palms up Blake's arms. "I'm right here."

She tried to think about being like Jaune, left with only Gambol Shroud to remember Blake by, and couldn't. It wasn't a bad place in her head, didn't make her shy away from the thoughts. She just literally could not imagine it.

"I know," Blake murmured, stroking her thumbs along Yang's cheeks. "I know."

Blake leaned forward, her arms moving up and around Yang's shoulders. She buried her face in Yang's neck, letting out a shaky breath. Yang stroked a hand down Blake's spine, trying to offer what comfort she could. 

Blake's breathing slowly evened out, her hands no longer shaking. Neither of them moved. Yang inhaled Blake's scent, her eyes closing. It was so comfortable, like this.

She ignored the first buzz from her scroll. Blake's buzzed at the same time, meaning it was a RWBY group chat, and it could wait. The second time, she sighed, but let it go. The third came, and Yang pulled back just far enough to meet Blake's eyes. It was probably just Ruby texting in batches like she usually did, but somebody had to check.

"My scroll is closer," Blake offered, hands still on Yang's back. "Just behind you."

Yang twisted, reaching for it. She just barely managed to grab it. When she turned back around, there was a look in Blake's eyes that Yang knew, and really wanted to get to know better. If Blake's scroll hadn't buzzed in her hand again, she didn't know if she'd have gone for it or not.

Blake took the scroll from her, and Yang bit the inside of her lip to keep from shivering when their fingers brushed. She was in Blake's lap, pressed against her, but still that little touch made her want the other girl more.

"Ruby says they found bits of her shield, too, and Jaune's thinking about working it into his," Blake said, before setting her scroll on the bedside table.

Yang shifted. "Think he should?"

"I..." Blake bit her lip. "I don't want to talk about it."

"Okay," Yang said, accepting it. It wasn't like there wasn't a minefield of stuff she didn't want to talk about, and she could understand this. "When do you want to leave?"

"In a bit," Blake said, pulling her closer again.

Yang wasn't going to argue with that.

[*]

It was kind of funny, how well Ember Celica still fit, how well it fit onto her prosthetic arm. Her right arm could channel Aura almost as well as it could before, and the little amount of target practice she'd done told her that adjusting wouldn't be a problem. She should be thankful, she knew. Happy that it worked out so well. Instead, she was mostly just happy that she only got slight nausea from thinking about fighting with that arm instead of full-on puking.

"Ready?" Blake asked, shouldering Gambol Shroud.

"Yeah," Yang said, pushing down the nausea and turning her thoughts westward. "Let's go."


	22. On The Road Again

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Minor change to Ch21: they're headed west, not east.

"Hey," Yang nudged Blake as they walked, "why don't you have any books with you?"

Blake looked at her out of the corner of her eye. "What makes you think I don't?"

Yang scoffed, lacing her fingers together behind her head. "We've been travelling together for how long? You don't have anything I haven't seen by now, Belladonna."

Oh, shit. That was way flirtier than she meant it to be. Maybe Blake wouldn't take it that way, she was usually pretty iron-clad against stuff like that. Or not. The blush creeping up Blake's neck suggested not, and Yang felt an answering heat start on her face. Dammit, what happened to no more mixed signals, Xiao Long?

Blake cleared her throat. "I think you'd be surprised."

Yang's jaw dropped. Blake Belladonna, flirting back? A whole lot of great comebacks came to mind, but Yang stuffed them back down. They would keep, if she ended up needing them later.

"Yeah?" Yang asked, trying to keep her voice calm. She failed.

Blake tapped the pocket holding her scroll. "I just have a digital library, for now."

"And after all this, you're going to settle down in a library?" Yang teased, grinning. That was totally safe, totally not flirty.

Blake chuckled. "Maybe. Maybe I'll get a bunch of art instead, surprise people."

A really good line about pinning art to the wall came to mind, followed up by something that went something like 'if you'll let me touch the masterpieces', but Yang kept them in her head. She really doubted she'd get a chance to use them again, but she was trying really, really hard not to hit on Blake. It wasn't fair to either of them.

"I... didn't know you liked art," Yang said instead, wincing at how strangled her voice sounded.

"I can appreciate it when I see it," Blake murmured, with a look that turned the day from comfortable to wow, look, I'm standing on the surface of the sun.

The only reply Yang could come up with sounded like a whistling teapot. She clapped her hands over her mouth, her face so red it felt like it was on fire. Oh, god. She was going to die. Blake was flirting with her and she was going to die.

Blake's face softened. "Sorry. That was... rude of me."

"Nope!" Yang chirped, her voice way too high. "Nothing wrong with art appreciation!"

(Because okay, they were complicated, really complicated just in themselves and that wasn't getting into Yang dealing with her own life. But complicated didn't mean she didn't enjoy a pretty girl appreciating her. And it definitely didn't mean she wanted her to stop, even if she probably should.)

Somehow they got to a good place to camp out without Yang literally bursting into flames.

Yang took first watch. Blake was one of the faunus with actual night vision, so they agreed that it would be better for her to take the second half of the watch.

It was boring, if she was honest. She had to pay attention - there were Grimm everywhere these days, some sneakier than others - but couldn't focus on any one thing too hard or possibly miss something. She tried doing a little shadowboxing, but she couldn't focus as hard as she would need to in order to forget about her arm. So she climbed a nearby tree to get a good view, and stared out into the night.

...well, mostly out into the night. If she found herself looking down at their camp a few times, she was pretty sure Blake wouldn't mind a few glances.

When it came time for Blake's watch, she was immediately awake and alert. For a while Yang had envied her that, but now she noticed it looked painful. She'd take her sometimes-slow mornings over Blake's twitchy-wincey immediate awakening.

"How was it?" Blake asked, once she'd blinked a few times, glaring around herself with Gambol Shroud at hand.

"Boring," Yang shrugged. "Not even a mouse."

Blake snorted. "Hopefully it stays that way."

Yang nodded, then eyed Blake's sleeping bag instead of going for her own.

"Really?" Blake asked, amused.

"Mine's gonna be cold," Yang turned puppy-dog eyes on Blake. "Yours is still warm and--"

She was going to say, _'smells like you'_ because she was sure it did, but managed to stop herself.

"And?" Blake asked, raising an eyebrow.

"And... it's... already out?" Yang tried, knowing she was blushing.

Blake chuckled, low and still a little rusty. "Go ahead."

Yang didn't ask again, crawling into Blake's sleeping back and curling up inside it. It was totally warm, and definitely smelled like Blake.

...which meant she didn't really have an excuse for tossing and turning.

"Yang," Blake called, quiet enough that it wouldn't have woken her if she weren't already completely awake.

Yang groaned, tilting her head toward Blake to look up from her cocoon of sleeping bag.

Her partner's eyes shone in the light from the half-moon. The shadow of a tree branch broke her face into sections, making her look like one of the spirits from the books Yang had read Ruby when they were kids. She tilted her head, and the shadows shifted, playing out in different shapes over her body. God, she was beautiful.

"Can't sleep?" Blake asked, still in that quiet voice.

Yang groaned again, burying her face in the side of the bag. "No. I don't know what's wrong with me. I was sitting there for the last hour thinking about how sleepy I was."

A beat, then Blake tugged on the edge of the sleeping bag. "Come here."

Blinking up at her, Yang tilted her head.

"Bring the sleeping bag," Blake said, "and lay down over here."

Yang crawled out, rearranging the sleeping bag so she was closer to Blake. She scooted back into it, promptly curling up so she was facing her partner.

Blake studied her face for a few seconds, then reached out. Her fingers started to card hesitantly through Yang's hair, and Yang relaxed. She squirmed closer, eyes closing. Blake hummed something, low and faint enough that Yang couldn't catch it, but it was still soothing somehow.

"Better?"

"Mm, much."

Yang fell asleep quickly after that, with one more look at how the shadows played over her partner's face before sleep claimed her.

[*]

They spent three out of the next seven days roughing it. There wasn't enough nighttime for them to get quite enough sleep on the times they had to camp out, and they didn't dare stay in one place too long when there was only two of them. Nights where they could find an inn, they turned in early. Blake could hunt, they could both skin and dress, but neither one of them were any good at campfire cooking, so their nights spent in a real bed with a properly-cooked meal were treasured.

On the seventh day, they found a farmstead. The house had been burned down to the foundations, scorchmarks still recent enough to smudge when they investigated, with a shed that leaned crookedly to the side, and a barn that had open doors but otherwise looked unscathed.

"I hope they got out okay," Yang said, frowning at the burnt house.

"I think they did," Blake said thoughtfully. "This place doesn't smell like death, and I don't think it's rained since this happened."

Yang blinked, turning to her. "Death has a smell?"

The corner of Blake's mouth turned up, but she wasn't really smiling. "Fear, anger, and death all have scents, and they're all... unpleasant."

Yang frowned. "That really sucks, Blake."

Blake shook her head. "It is what it is. I'm luckier than most; some faunus can't live in human cities because their sense of smell is so acute."

Turning to look at the sun where it was already starting to touch the horizon, Yang turned back to Blake. "Should we check out the barn? It's getting late, and I'd rather sleep in a building than out in the open again."

The barn was fine. Blake claimed it smelled faintly of cows and hay, but neither were anywhere to be found. Yang spotted a little ladder leading upward, and pointed it out.

"Oh, hey, a hayloft!" She said, walking toward it.

"A... hayloft," Blake squinted, following her.

"What, you read all those romance novels and don't know what a hayloft is?" Yang teased, stepping onto the lowest rung of the ladder. 

She paused, biting her lip. She hadn't done anything like this with her metal arm yet. It seemed like something so stupid to worry about, but if she put a hand wrong, if she misjudged it, she could fall. She knew how to fall. She didn't know how to trust her arm.

"I know what a hayloft is," Blake said quietly. Her eyes told Yang to trust her, and she stood where she'd be able to catch her if she fell. "I've just never seen one before."

"So somehow you know how to hunt in the wild," Yang said, starting up the ladder, "but you've never been in a barn?"

Her voice only shook a little. Her metal arm supported her just fine, moving exactly where she told it to, gripping the way she'd gotten used to it gripping. God, this was such a stupid thing to get worked up about, but her heart was pounding in her chest, and she could feel a bead of sweat trail down her temple.

"I didn't really searched out barns when I was on the road," Blake said dryly. "Most people aren't comfortable letting a strange, armed faunus wander around their farm."

"I don't think most people are comfortable having armed strangers around whether they're human or faunus," Yang said, finally reaching the top. She sat down to hang her legs over the side, looking down at Blake.

"I don't blame them," Blake said, nimbly climbing the ladder in only a few bounds. "I was just stating a fact."

"Well," Yang said, willing her heart to slow down, "maybe after everything I'll get a farm, and you can come explore my hayloft."

After a glance over the hayloft - mostly empty, with only a few scattered strands of hay left, probably because the big mounds had been eaten, blown away, or scavenged - Blake sat next to her. The other girl seated herself within arm's reach, but didn't touch her. 

"I would be honored to explore your hayloft," Blake said seriously, swinging her legs over the side.

Yang managed a smile. "Blake Belladonna, secret dork."

Blake raised an eyebrow. "Was I really keeping it a secret?"

Yang's smile came a little easier. "Not really."

With a shrug, Blake's eyes swept over the barn. "Then I guess you're just stuck with a dorky partner."

"Wouldn't trade it for the world," Yang said softly.

The other girl turned back to her with a smile, and Yang's heart swelled up bigger than she thought it ever could. She looked down at her swinging legs, unable to stop from smiling.

"C'mon," Blake said after a moment, "if we pull the ladder up, we should be safe enough to sleep up here, since we locked the door."

"Hey," Yang said later, after they'd cleared out a space to sleep in, "you said anger has a smell, and it kind of sucks?"

Blake hummed agreement, spreading out her sleeping bag. She pulled Gambol Shroud off of her back, setting it within easy reach.

Yang frowned. "That must have been hard, getting paired with me. I get angry a lot when I fight."

Sitting down on her unzipped sleeping bag, Blake shook her head. "I got used to it, with you."

"Still," Yang said, "of all the people in that class, I'm kind of the... least chill when I fight. At least, when I fight for real."

This time when the corner of Blake's mouth pulled up, it was definitely a smile. "Wouldn't trade it for the world."

The starburst in her chest kept Yang warm through the night.


	23. Steady Does It

RWBY generally texted one another throughout the day. The CCT network still wasn't completely repaired, so sometimes one or both pairs went through a day or two of patchy service, but more often than not, both Blake and Yang's scrolls would buzz several times a day. Taiyang texted her sometimes too - he'd sent her a gleefully emoji-filled text when he finished his hunt early, and had put some money in her account soon after, refusing to take it back after she said he didn't need to - but it was mostly Ruby and Weiss.

"I think Ruby finally ran out of her buffer," Yang snickered, zooming in on a picture Ruby took of Weiss huffing in the corner of a cafe. It got quickly followed up by Ruby with the most confused look ever, captioned, 'what did I do??'. Her scroll buzzed again as Ruby reposted the pictures in the combined RWBY/RNJR chat, and Nora replied with a string of laughing emojis.

"I knew she would eventually," Blake said. She glanced over at the picture. "What did she do?"

Yang snorted. "She probably doesn't even know. I love my baby sis, but she is not exactly an expert on how to talk to girls like Weiss. I'm just proud of her for knowing to leave Weiss alone when she's sulking."

Blake laughed. "Don't call it sulking where she can hear you."

Putting her scroll back in her pocket, Yang grinned. "I think I can deal with one pissed-off ice princess, Blake."

The next day, the RWBY/RNJR group chat had a picture of Jaune, Ren, and Nora all crammed into the same seat Weiss had been sitting in for her sulk, all three with exaggerated pouts. Weiss was not amused, but Yang had to stop walking so she could laugh, bent over with tears streaming down her face. When Blake stopped next to her, Yang handed the scroll over, laughing too hard to speak.

"I wonder how Nora talked them into that?" Blake snickered, giving the scroll back.

"She's got Ren wrapped around her little finger," Yang waved a hand, "and Jaune's pretty soft when it comes to his team."

Blake tilted her head. "I still wouldn't have thought."

"Well, I'm glad she did. That was hilarious." A beat, then, "Hey, you know what we should do?"

Blake sighed. "I'm not going to like this, am I?"

Just before sunset, the RWBY/RNJR chat got a picture of Blake and Yang sitting in Ruby's original seat, giving each other way overdone confused looks. Ruby responded with crying emojis, and Jaune reported that Nora had actually fallen over laughing.

"That wasn't so bad, was it?" Yang grinned, nudging her partner.

"Jaune's not the only one who's soft for his team," Blake muttered, trying not to smile and failing.

Yang laughed, linking her fingers behind her head, and just kept walking.

[*]

The next time they ended up at an inn with some time before sundown, Yang went out into the woods, finding a space big enough to work in. She started running through forms, reminding her body how it felt to box like she used to.

Blake came with. They weren't going to separate in the middle of a place neither of them knew well, especially with Grimm attacks being what they were. She ran through her own drills, stuff that looked like experimenting with her afterimages when Yang caught it out of the corner of her eye.

Yang knew her own fighting style. She hadn't moved like this in a while, but she could still do it, could still recreate steps and stances like she'd only taken a small break instead of the better part of a year. She'd been sloppy in her spar with Taiyang, too much downtime and not enough training. It was hard to say that it hadn't been her fault, but looking back she remembered how hard it had been to just get out of bed sometimes. And some days, she hadn't even managed that.

Shaking off those thoughts, she continued putting herself through her paces, going until sweat poured down her skin and her legs threatened to stop holding her up. It was way less than she'd been able to do before but... it was progress. She'd get better. She had to.

"Ready to head back?" Blake asked quietly. 

She wasn't as sweaty and gross as Yang was, but there were lines around her eyes that Yang was pretty sure meant she'd pushed her Semblance too far in a day.

"Yeah," Yang said, straightening up. "Let's go."

[*]

When they got back to the room, Yang hit the releases on her prosthetic arm, dropping it on her bed. She didn't usually bother, just leaving it in place every day, but for a little while she just didn't want to deal with it.

"I'm gonna grab a shower," Yang called, walking into the bathroom.

She'd gotten good at managing with one arm, and the motions came almost naturally. Her hair was really the only hard part about showering without her prosthetic, but she got by.

The hot water washed away the sweat and grime from her workout, and helped her Aura work on the soreness she'd otherwise get. Yang knew she could still only work out about as much as someone without Aura, but she didn't need to suffer through as much of the afer-effects.

The room was dark when she got back, Blake sitting with her back up against the headboard, eyes closed. Yang knew that look from days back at Beacon where Weiss would nurse a Glyph-overuse migraine and try not to snap at anyone. If Blake had ever overused her afterimages, Yang hadn't noticed. Then again, Blake was good at hiding pain.

"Hey," Yang said softly, clicking off the bathroom light and shutting the door. "You okay?"

"Tried some new things today," Blake murmured, the rest of her body staying still. "Pushed it too hard."

Yang sat on the end of Blake's bed. "Want a massage? Sometimes migraine tension can be relieved by relaxing the muscles in your neck and back."

Blake creaked one eye open. "You know massage?"

Yang nodded. "They had everyone take at least one Recovery class at Signal. Ruby and I picked Massage."

After a bit, Blake nodded. "Please."

Yang eyed her prosthetic, but figured she could do without it. She wasn't going for a deep-tissue massage, so she could manage. (She still didn't want to touch Blake with that hand.)

"Here, scoot forward," Yang said, moving to sit behind Blake.

The other girl rearranged herself, sliding off her jacket and laying it over her lap. Yang could appreciate the newly-revealed skin, but quickly cut off the part of her that wanted to do a little more in-depth appreciating. Blake was in pain.

Yang started in on Blake's left shoulder, moving her to one side so she could work. Blake let out a small huff, leaning into Yang's hand. She coaxed the stiffness out of Blake's shoulder, then moved over to the other one. It was awkward doing it one-handed, especially since she'd been right handed, but the little noises of relief that Blake made kept Yang moving. Her neck carried so much tension that Yang made a note in her head to talk her into a deep-tissue massage at some point. She managed to work on some of it, but there was way too much for a light one-handed massage.

"Better?" Yang whispered, stilling her hand on the back of Blake's neck. She watched the hair there raise, and slid her hand down to rest on her back, instead.

"Yes," Blake said, slowly leaning backward. "Thank you."

Yang wrapped her arm around Blake's waist, resting her temple against the side of the other girl's head. Blake's arm rested over hers, their fingers interlaced.

She wondered how much time they'd spent like this, over the past few months. There had been a little bit of stuff back at Beacon, but most of this was new. It was already comfortable, though. She trusted Blake, and she was already a touchy person. It was nice, having Blake close like this. Being able to soak in her warmth, her scent. The trust ran both ways, she knew.

"Yang," Blake murmured, "can I ask you something?"

"Anything."

Blake shifted against her. (Down, girl.) "You... we... touch a lot. But not with... you know I don't mind your arm, right?"

Yang swallowed.

"It's... I don't like that you wouldn't have a prosthetic if not for me--"

"Blake--"

"--but it doesn't bother me." Blake turned to face her. "You're still Yang."

Yang shuddered. "I don't... really feel like it."

Blake reached out, fingers light against Yang's jaw. "We're not our individual parts. Our team taught me that. I'm a Faunus, but it's not all I am. I'm Blake. And you're Yang. You would be even if you had more metal than Ironwood."

Yang took a deep breath, turning into the touch. Blake's slightly-cool fingers traced along the edge of her jaw. Yang lifted her hand, resting it over Blake's.

"I believe you," she whispered, "but it's not about... how you feel about it. It's how I do. It isn't mine. It's just attached to me. My real arm is... somewhere. This is just...." She didn't have the words. She might never have the words.

Blake's fingers dipped to cup Yang's chin. She tilted Yang's head to the side. Something soft brushed her cheek. Yang opened her eyes to see Blake pulling away.

"For what it's worth," Blake said, fingers brushing the underside of Yang's jaw before dropping, "I'm just happy you're here. However you are."

Yang exhaled, a little teary. "Me, too."

Blake smiled, small but real. Yang swallowed. God, she was so beautiful.

"You know," Yang said, "this is normally where I'd kiss the girl. So you should probably..." She shook her head, a little shaky from all the conflicting emotions. "...not sit there being pretty at me."

"You say that like the girl doesn't want to be kissed," Blake murmured. A thrill shot through Yang, and for a second she thought this was going to happen, they were going to kiss. Then Blake resettled her back against Yang's front. "But I know what you mean."

Yang pulled Blake closer, breathing out. All she could do was take it one day at a time.


	24. Fighting Chance

Yang pushed herself over the next two weeks. She trained every chance she got, watching videos of her old training bouts at Beacon and Signal. Beacon's website was down, but Yang had downloaded her best - and worst - from both schools a long time ago. She didn't lose often, but when she went down, she went down hard. She wanted important to remember what she'd learned then, and what she could still learn now. She could feel herself getting stronger, closer to her old form. There were still nights where she stared up at the ceiling, fingers of her flesh hand twitching, ignoring her metal arm so she didn't have to _think_ about it. But she got by.

"Hey," she nudged Blake, bouncing a little as they walked. "Next time we stop, we should spar. Like old times."

Blake gave her a sideways look. "Yeah?"

Yang winked. "If you think you can handle it."

The other girl raised a challenging eyebrow. "I was working while I was on the move, you know. It won't be like it was."

They worked together well on the battlefield, but in one-on-one matchups, Yang won just about all of their bouts. She'd lost one of the early ones, but once she got a good sense of Blake's Semblance and fighting style, she didn't lose again. It had come close a few times, but Yang had gotten the upper hand through their entire second semester.

"Maybe not yet," Yang said, shrugging, "but just you wait. I'll be back in business before you know it."

"We'll see," Blake said, a smile curling the corner of her mouth.

The closer they got to the coast, the more people they saw. They hadn't had to rough it for the past few days - not that Yang was complaining - and tonight was no different, a small town offering a crummy but low-cost hotel for them to stay in. They weren't trying to advertise their combat skills, not when Cinder's group knew how they all fought, so they found a little secluded place outside town at the base of a hill.

"Ready?" Blake asked, unsheathing Gambol Shroud.

Pulsing Aura, Yang watched Ember Celica slide out over her arms. "Ready."

Yang didn't try to feint her out, the way she had with her dad. Blake knew her fighting style too well. Instead she extended her arms backward, fired Ember Celica to propel her forward, and went for the straightforward haymaker.

Blake barely moved, her sword coming down to deflect Yang's gauntlets with a clang. Yang twisted, testing her with a side swipe. Blake twitched to the side, Yang catching nothing but afterimage. Yang grinned. One of Blake's ears flicked.

Rushing forward again, Yang threw a few jabs, not losing the grin. Blake flashed through them and appeared behind her in a cloud of black smoke. Turning, Yang threw out a hand, firing. Blake knocked the blast downward, the shell exploding in a hail of dirt. Blake's sword slammed into Yang's shoulder, making her Aura spark. The boxer felt the energy feeding into her Semblance, and couldn't help but smirk at that familiar feeling. Blake narrowed her eyes.

Blake tried to wear her down, hitting her as little as possible so she didn't fuel Yang's Semblance. She aimed to set herself up for one big hit that would knock Yang out and bypass her Semblance entirely. Yang pressed her attack, trying to get Blake to fight hard enough to forget that the more hits Yang took, the more the fight weighed in her favor. Blake wasn't going all out and Yang knew it, but she didn't mind. She wasn't in this to win, not this time.

"Wanna take it up a notch?" Yang offered, in one of the lulls.

She knew Blake would know what she meant. Yang didn't normally use the active version of her Semblance in spars, but they were pretty well hidden from the town, and nobody would complain about her burning out this random patch of grass. With the skill gap between them right now, Blake could take it.

Blake tilted her head, a spark in her eyes. "Sure."

Yang had never been able to really explain what it felt like to turn on the active part of her Semblance. It was like hitting a switch, like submerging herself underwater, like surfacing from the most refreshing nap you'd ever had. She felt the change ripple through her body, felt sparks race down along her nerves and the whole world surge like it was just then coming alive. It was like she'd heard other people describe drugs, only all-natural, no side-effects, and she could come back down whenever she wanted. Slamming her fists together just to feel the rush, Yang sensed the world warp around her, bending to the power she embodied.

Yang didn't try to speak, just smirked. Her heart beat steadily in her chest, blood pulsing hot through her veins. This was living.

Blake raised an eyebrow. Yang winked. Blake rolled her eyes, but Yang could see a smile lurking around the corner of her mouth. Taking a ready stance, Yang flicked her fingers to get Blake to come at her.

A second later, Blake blurred forward. Yang knew better than to swing at the first attack she saw. Gambling, she lashed out to her right. Her fist swung right through an afterimage. A glancing blow on her left, and Yang turned. She lifted her arms, firing several shots in a row. Dirt exploded and smoke flared as Blake blurred from one side to the other, returning fire with the pistol form of Gambol Shroud. Yang shrugged it all off with a smirk and the help of a little adrenaline. She lunged, firing behind herself to propel her body forward.

Blake jerked to one side, deflecting Yang's punch with the flat of her blade. Yang took a cue from their opening exchange and brought up a knee aimed for her gut. Her strike hit-- crashing directly into an earth clone, while the real Blake barrelled into her from behind.

Yang twisted, grabbing Blake's coat and dragging her down. They rolled, Yang controlling the fall so she ended up sitting on Blake's hips, pinning her legs. Her left arm pointed at Blake's chest, making it clear that she could make the final blow.

"Give?" She grinned, shifting. She straightened up immediately, realizing something very sharp touched the base of her spine. "What... when did you...?"

"I told you I'd been practicing," Blake said calmly.

Yang nodded, throwing her arms up with a smile. "You got me." 

She let her Semblance go, closing her eyes as she shifted back down to normal. The world got a little less vivid, everything turning down a few levels. She exhaled, stretching her arms above her head, and rolled her head on her neck. That had been a good workout. 

When she opened her eyes, her breath caught in her throat. Blake was visibly biting the inside of her cheek, panting even though she should have caught her breath by now. Her cheeks shone a vivid red, the blush creeping all the way down her throat.

"Blake?" Yang tilted her head. "Are you... okay?"

"I need you to get off me," Blake said, her voice a rumble that shot heat straight to Yang's core.

Yang sucked in a breath, and stood, taking a few steps to the side. Her first instinct was to help Blake up, but she didn't think was a good idea for them to touch right now. God, when did everything between them start having sexual tension to it? Normally she wouldn't be complaining about sexual tension with a gorgeous girl who clearly wanted to resolve it, but she wasn't going to be doing anything about it any time soon.

She turned away when she heard Blake stand, sweeping her hair over one shoulder. She started to finger comb her way through part of it, hoping to shake out some of the grass she figured she'd picked up, and also to give them both time to not make eye contact. Self-control was not one of Yang's usual strong points, and she needed every advantage she could get in the war to not fuck her best friend before she knew if she'd be breaking her heart by doing it.

"Good match?" Yang offered, trying to shake off the feeling of her skin being too tight.

"It was," Blake agreed. Yang could hear her brushing off her clothes, and the small click as Gambol Shroud set into place.

Yang flipped her hair back into place, daring to turn around.

Blake looked closer to normal, the red gone from her neck if not her cheeks. She just looked a little messy, like they'd just gotten in a fight, or she'd gotten laid--

Nope. One hundred percent not thinking about Blake with sex hair.

"Race you back?" Yang tried on a grin, forcing her thoughts into simpler places. "First one there gets to use the shower first?"

Blake rolled her eyes, but nodded. "You're on."

Yang let her win. Blake probably knew, but if she did she didn't say anything, grabbing her pack and disapparing into the bathroom without a glance backward. 

Yang flopped onto her bed, groaning. Even the beginnings of soreness from her first serious use of her Semblance in months couldn't distract her. The tiredness that always came in waves after that use couldn't either. She didn't want to think about her and Blake and what she wanted to do about it, but she kinda had to. They were sharing a bed a lot, and it totally wasn't sexual, but apparently Yang's libido had stopped hiding, and Blake was gorgeous. And wanted her. And Blake was about as good about hiding what she wanted from Yang as Yang was good about not thinking about it. So, not at all. She could stop sleeping with Blake curled around her, yeah, but she really didn't want to. It was warm, and comfortable, and okay, yeah, she felt safe. They were partners. They'd take care of one another.

And so Yang had to do something, say something. She couldn't have sex with Blake without knowing if there was something there, without knowing if something could be there. But if they kept this up, Yang's self-control would break, and they could only go bad places from there.

The shower turned on in the bathroom, and Yang groaned. She turned on her side, fishing some protein mix out of her pack. Eating after a workout was not only important, it was potentially distracting.

Yang managed to get through an entire pack of protein mix without thinking about anything she was trying not to think about.

"Hey," Blake said when she came out of the bathroom. She stood next to Yang's bed. "Do you want to shower first, or talk first?"

Yang sighed. "Shower first. I won't take long."

As soon as she got in the shower, she started thinking about what Blake could want to talk about. Probably the end of their spar, but what if it wasn't? What if it was... Yang couldn't even think of anything, really, but something. Something like maybe she couldn't do this, didn't want to be around Yang until she made up her mind? She wouldn't blame Blake for that.

Stepping out of the shower, Yang caught a glimpse of chrome out of the corner of her eye, and realized she'd been using her metal arm all day without thinking about it. She braced herself against nausea, only to find it didn't come. It still wasn't a comfortable memory, especially when she prodded the thought of her touching _Blake_ with it, but she didn't want to puke. She didn't want it off. She didn't have to look away, or imagine her flesh arm in place of it.

"Huh," she said to herself, flexing her right hand into a fist and watching the joints move. It felt like progress.

Coming back into the room sent a cold bucket of water down her spine. Blake sat up from where she'd been lying on her bed reading on her scroll, and Yang swallowed nervously. The other girl stood, walking over to her.

"Well, all clean," Yang rubbed the back of her head, "so we can--"

She suddenly had her arms full of Blake. Yang hesitated, tilting her head. This was not what she expected. "Blake?"

"You just... you looked..." Blake broke away, flushing and looking down at the floor. "You looked really... anxious. So I thought...."

Yang stepped into her, wrapping her arms around Blake's waist. "No, hey, it's okay." Blake slowly returned the hug. "You just had your serious face on, so I was really worried. Kinda still am."

Blake took a few steps back. "I just wanted to say... that I'm sorry, and I'm not trying to push you."

Yang blinked at her. She ran the words back over in her mind. Nope, still didn't make sense. "What?"

"I let you pin me," Blake said, not meeting her eyes. "You caught me by surprise with the grab, but I could have shaken the pin, used my Semblance to escape."

"And that's pushing because...?"

"With how we've been," Blake said, glancing up at her, "how would you have thought you straddling me was going to end?"

Yang's imagination had a lot of answers for that, none of them helpful.

"I... don't mind?" Yang said hesitantly. "I just don't want to hurt you."

Blake shook her head. "You're not going to hurt me."

"So, us having sex and then me not being into you at all, that wouldn't hurt?" Yang asked, trying to keep her voice level.

"It would," Blake admitted. Yang's heart sank down into the dirt. "But I don't think we're going to have sex. I think, if anything, we're going to end up kissing. Then both of us are going to feel guilty about it, we'll both be gun-shy, and before we get comfortable again we'll be with the others."

Yang blinked, feeling a familiar flush rise on her cheeks. "You... sound like you've thought about this. A lot."

Blake blushed, tilting her head away. "I... it already happened once. It's been three weeks since we met up with the others."

It took Yang a second to follow. Then she remembered the bell tower, _her hand twisting through Blake's hair, Blake's hips rocking into hers_ and had to shut down those thoughts before they ended up becoming reality again.

"I think," Blake said, a little unsteady, "that we can make it another week."

Yang took a deep breath. That sounded like it would work. Not the kissing part, that sounded awesome but also like a really bad idea. But them waiting for a week, and then being busy with other people around. The chances of her jumping Blake when Ruby could walk in were way, way lower. 

"We probably should sleep in our own beds tonight," Yang said, sighing.

Blake nodded. "Yes."

It sucked, and Yang slept really badly, but it was way better than what might have happened.


	25. Rise of the Dragon

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tag added: Canon-typical violence.

They had two more days on the road before they were attacked.

They didn't get a warning: one second they were walking along, talking about something Yang wouldn't remember later, and then next, something landed in front of them in a flurry of wings.

In an instant, Blake held Gambol Shroud, and only a second later Ember Celica slid over Yang's wrists. The griffon tilted its black head to the side, letting out a low, challenging noise.

"What the fuck," Yang demanded, slowly reaching for her scroll, "is a griffon doing here?"

"I don't know," Blake said, ears flat against her skull. "One of the Shade upper-year teams should have gotten it."

Yang got her scroll in one hand, speed-dialing Jaune. She would have liked to call Ruby, but she and Weiss were farther ahead, less likely to get there in any kind of time to help. The griffon rumbled again, taking a step foward. Blake tensed, and Yang clenched her jaw.

"Yang?" Jaune's voice on the other end of the line.

"We're on the west road toward the coast," Yang hissed, "and there's a fucking griffon standing in front of us. I need you guys to run back here as fast as you can."

Jaune didn't hesitate. "We're on our way. I'll call Ruby and Weiss, too."

Yang clicked off the line without looking away from the Grimm, stowing her scroll.

"If we're lucky, it's alone," Blake said. The griffon hopped from foot to foot, chittering.

"Are we ever lucky?" Yang muttered, feeling tension in every part of her body.

"No." Blake looked at her out of the corner of her eye. "If it attacks, switch roles with me."

Yang exhaled. She was always the shield, the one that took the hits so everyone else could do what they needed to. Blake was her striker, the precision hitter who took advantages of the holes Yang made to end the fight. But this wasn't then. Blake was counting on her to have her back, and it wasn't like it had been. Yang couldn't do it right now and she knew it. So she gritted her teeth and nodded. This time, she'd let Blake lead the way.

The griffon took another step forward, and they both tensed. With a lot of other Grimm, they could attack first, take it out as quickly as possible. The problem was that Yang didn't think they could guarantee a one-hit kill on it, and keep it from making noise that could bring others. Even Yang, out of shape and out of practice, could probably take on one griffon, but there was never just one griffon. They came in pairs at least, packs of ten to fifteen at worst. Once, they could have taken up to five or six and Yang wouldn't have worried, but there could always be more, and the two of them hadn't fought together for the better part of a year. 

"They're not going to make it in time," Yang said, rolling her shoulders.

"They were only a few hours' walk ahead of us," Blake replied, "if we can stall, they might show up before the rest of the pack does."

The griffon screeched loud enough to make Yang's ears ring, and she set her jaw. They'd run out of time.

It took all her self-control not to rush forward. It was her job to distract, to grab attention, take the hits. Blake was a great fighter, but this wasn't what she was supposed to be doing. Still, Yang waited for Blake to lunge, setting herself up at Blake's shoulder.

Blake went straight for the killing blow, her sword aimed at the griffon's throat. The Grimm flapped out of the way, screeching again. It swiped at Blake, talons extended. Blake rolled out of the way, Gambol Shroud sliding into pistol form. She fired at the griffon, the Grimm shielding its face with a black-feathered wing.

Yang took the opening, sprinting over to the exposed side and leading with a jab. The griffon spun to meet her and she ducked out of the way. Blake dashed forward, her sword piercing clean through the griffon's unguarded back. Yang rushed in and slammed her fist into its throat, hoping to prevent a death cry.

She succeeded, but the sound of beating wings told her that the first screech had been enough.

They took up a back-to-back stance as three more griffons landed, growling.

"How's that secret weapon?" Blake asked.

"Takes too much time to charge." Yang rolled her neck. "Think I should turn up the heat?"

There was a risk using active side of her Semblance: taking the hits needed to charge it still depleted her Aura. She had a lot of Aura, but it wasn't infinite (don't think about Adam, don't think about--) and if the griffons managed to wear her down, she'd be dead in the water. Not to mention her going full-out and breaking the color spectrum meant it could ripple out to Blake, hurting her. Everyone gave Yang space when she turned up, and not just so she could take all the hits and attention.

"Only if you have to." Blake took a deep breath. The griffons around them growled, their empty obsidian eyes glittering. "Ready?"

"Ready."

Time blurred. Yang had no choice but to run on instinct, letting Blake lead. She had to focus on not letting old habits slip her back into her usual spot, the one she'd trained in for ten years now. She took far more hits than she meant to, talons sparking against her Aura and beaks snapping at her clothes. They caught every slip-up, it felt like, and with her as out of shape as she was, there were a lot of them.

Blake did well, but it wasn't her position or her rhythm. She'd been fighting by herself for too long. Blake had to force herself to make room for Yang, twitching in that painful-looking way that Yang recognized as her stopping herself from making an afterimage. They both blew through ammunition fast, too fast, and Yang could feel herself slowing down. She wasn't at this level any more, dammit!

Anger stayed with her through the fight, and she tried to keep it down, tried to suppress it. The last time she'd let her anger run her-- she couldn't think about that. Blake needed her thinking straight. It still bubbled, still tempted her to slide into her Semblance early. With every hit she took, the urge rose.

They'd taken down two of the griffons when Blake bought them some space with a carefully-timed ice afterimage.

"Yang," she said, gritting her teeth. She'd been favoring one leg for longer than Yang wanted to think about. Aura stopped you from taking damage from outside sources, but it couldn't stop you from stepping wrong, or twisting and messing yourself up. 

Blake leaped up and away from her, blurring into a series of afterimages that caught the attention of the griffons, but Yang knew were exhausting for her to do all at once. It was the distraction Yang would need to trigger her Semblance.

She didn't need to be told twice. Yang slammed into her active-form Semblance, her fear and anger feeding her energy. The color spectrum broke around her, rippling the terrain. Power fed into her veins, and she couldn't help but roll her head on her neck, the exhaustion and minor hurts leaving her.

It was almost like old times-- then Blake cried out, and Yang saw _red_.

Yang didn't know what happened between then, and when she stood in the center of a burnt-out clearing, the last ashes of a griffon lifting from her skin. There were no memories there, nothing that explained why her arm ached and her head was pounding.

She could see Blake lying a few feet away. Yang took one step toward her, then realized she had fallen to a knee. When did that happen? Now both knees, and she tilted, tilted.

It didn't hurt, hitting the ground. It just confused her. She reached out for Blake, frowning at her hand. That was metal. Oh, yeah, metal arm. Couldn't touch Blake with that. She tried her other arm, but it wouldn't move. Yang thought back to why, but there was so much white noise in her head that she couldn't get through it. Or maybe that was the shouting.

Someone called her name. Not Blake. Blake was breathing but not moving. Yang tried her flesh arm again. No results.

She got flipped upward. Ren looked down at her, mouthing something. She couldn't hear him. Too much ringing in her ears. And none on her fingers. Ha, that was funny. She was gonna tell Blake.

Right after a nap.

[*]

"She'll be awake soon."

Yang glanced at Weiss. She knew Blake would be awake soon. She knew that all that was wrong with Blake was a pulled muscle, exhaustion, and Aura depletion. She knew that. But her heart wouldn't let go of it.

They could have died. If Yang had been stronger, faster, _better_ , they wouldn't have cut it so close. Blake was a great fighter, but she had to watch out for Yang, too, and fight out of position. It could have gone so much worse than it did.

"We never should have split up," Yang whispered, thumb stroking the back of Blake's hand. 

The other girl lay on her side, sleeping heavily in bed of the inn room Weiss had rented for them to recover in. Blake had been asleep since Yang herself woke and moved to her bedside. Yang had nothing wrong with her that a few hour of sleep hadn't fixed. Her flesh arm ached, but that was nothing she wasn't used to.

"Blake's plan was sound," Weiss said, just as quiet. "There was no way for us to predict a griffon flight of that size, let alone so close to Shade."

Yang shook her head. "I don't know what I was thinking, agreeing to it."

"Obviously I can't speak for you," Weiss said, stepping into Yang's line of sight, "but I was thinking that I trusted your judgement about what you were and weren't ready for. I was _also_ thinking that Ruby and I were going to sweep through an area, then Jaune, Ren, and Nora, and then the two of you. Also, that we would all be travelling on a main road, one that Hunters and mercenaries +alike travel frequently."

There was some hole there, there had to be, but Yang couldn't see it.

Weiss stepped closer, nearly close enough to touch. "It is difficult, when someone you care for is injured."

Part of Yang wanted to snap that Weiss _didn't_ know, but she held it back. It wasn't fair.

"You've probably seen Winter like this before," Yang said.

Weiss rolled her eyes. " _Winter_ is not the person in my life who has taken a major injury most recently."

Yang tilted her head, confused. Weiss stared at her pointedly, then dropped her eyes to Yang's right arm. Yang jerked away before she could think better of it.

Weiss immediately lifted her eyes back to Yang's face. "I apologize, I didn't mean to--"

Yang shook her head. "It's cool. I'm just twitchy."

They both watched Blake for a bit. Then, Yang said, "I never thanked you for getting me this."

Weiss nodded. "You're welcome. Though, really, you shouldn't have needed my help in the first place. These tensions between nations are entirely unecessary."

Yang shrugged. "I haven't really been keeping up with politics."

"Yes, well, I have, and they're currently very messy," Weiss sniffed. "I suppose I'll have to wait for Blake in order to have any sort of _intelligence_ political discourse."

"Be nice," Blake whispered, eyes fluttering open.

"Hey," Yang murmured, leaning forward.

Blake weakly squeezed her hand, yellow eyes blinking slowly. "Hey."

Yang's heart fluttered in her chest, and that warmth bloomed into a strong, steady flame. Blake had dirt smudged across her clothes, a bruise on her temple, and she was paler than Yang had ever seen her. But she was _alive_ and well enough to talk, and that was-- God, she was so beautiful--

The breath wheezed out of her chest. She was in love with Blake. The thoughts from before bubbled up, the wonderings about whether this was like the family love or friendly love she already, but they faded away. She knew. This was different than the love she had for her family, but just as powerful. She was _in love with_ Blake Belladonna.

"Yang?" Blake asked, struggling to sit up. She winced, and went right back down.

"It's fine, I'm just..." It wasn't the right time to tell her. "...really glad you're okay."

Weiss laid a hand on Blake's shoulder, and Yang started. She'd forgotten Weiss was even there.

"I'll go tell the others," Weiss said, eyes flicking between the two of them.

Blake smiled up at her weakly, and they watched Weiss leave.

"Need anything?" Yang asked, still off-balance from her realization.

"Water."

Yang immediately reached out to the glass by her bedside, helping Blake slowly sit up so she could hold it. The other girl winced through the whole process, but didn't complain. Her eyes closed in relief when she drank, and she finished half the glass before giving it back to Yang.

"Thank you," she said, giving Yang's hand another squeeze. This one was slightly stronger, and a smile tugged at the corner of Yang's mouth.

"No," she said, "thank you. For earlier. I... I would have died, on my own."

Blake shook her head. "I would have, too. There were too many of them. I should be thanking you."

Yang just shook her head, smiling. She didn't know if she could believe that, but she was too happy Blake was alright to argue. Blake smiled back, and Yang didn't think she could get much happier than this.

Someone knocked while they were still grinning at each other, and the grins faded into confusion.

"Come in?" Yang called.

Jaune opened the door, followed by Ren and Nora. The swordsman smiled, almost looking like his old self.

"Hey," Jaune said, talking over to Blake's bedside. "How are you doing?"

"Better than I would have been," Blake said. "Thank you for coming." She looked to Ren and Nora. "All of you."

Yang rose, letting go of Blake's hand. She folded Nora into her arms. The other girl nuzzled into her easily, and Yang inhaled the storms-and-coffee scent that always followed her around. It had been too long.

"C'mere, Jaune, you too," Yang said, when she'd let Nora go.

Jaune blinked, then looked around like he couldn't believe she was talking to him.

She cocked a hip, tilting her head. "Don't get any ideas, but I think you deserve a hug."

Something eased in his face, and he nodded, coming forward. She hugged him tight, and his arms came up around her. He was surprisingly gentle, and she realized that he gave good hugs.

Ren offered a hand when she looked to him, and she took it with a smile. She knew that by itself meant he respected her; Ren wasn't much for touching people.

"We're gonna get going," Jaune said quietly. "Ruby said you guys are gonna walk the last couple days together, but the three of us should be fine."

"I," Nora said, pretending to be very serious, "stuck my finger in a light socket. So we'll be fine."

Ren chuckled. Yang snickered, and Blake shook her head with a smile in her eyes. Nora cracked, grinning.

"Be careful," Yang said, Blake nodding in agreement.

Jaune just gave them a lopsided smile, and the three of them left.

Before Yang could sit back down, Ruby barrelled into the room, Weiss calmly walking just behind her.

"Blake!" Ruby stopped just short of throwing herself on the bed, fidgeting at Blake's side. "You're okay, right? Weiss said you were mostly just tired but that you'd need a little time for your leg to be better--"

"I'm fine," Blake smiled. She reached out, touching the back of Ruby's hand. "Thank you."

Ruby smiled, and Yang stepped closer, wrapping an arm around her younger sister's shoulders. Weiss stood on Ruby's other side, her arms crossed over her chest but her eyes soft.

"Oh, so," Ruby said, sliding out from under Yang's arm and turning to face the three of them. "We're gonna be travelling together!"

Yang snickered. "Jaune told us already."

Ruby sighed. "Darn him for stealing my thunder."

"Well, we'll be leaving some time tomorrow," Weiss said, ignoring the betrayed look Ruby gave her. " _I_ am going to return to my correspondences." She looked to Blake, then Yang, then pointedly at Ruby. "I'm glad you're both alright."

Then she swept out of the room, probably so nobody else could make her have feelings.

Yang blinked at Ruby. "She's being... a little weird."

Ruby rubbed the back of her head, laughing nervously. "Uh, yeah, totally, I should go check on her. See you in the morning!"

She ran out as fast as she could without actually using her Semblance. Blake and Yang exchanged a confused look.

"Okay," Yang said, "now they're both acting weird."

Yang moved to sit back in the chair, only for Blake to gently tug her down onto the bed.

"You sure?" Yang asked. "You're still kind of...."

Blake hummed in answer. Yang carefully laid down on her side, cautiously laying an arm over the other girl's middle. Blake exhaled, turning her head to rest in the crook of Yang's neck. Yang smiled, closing her eyes, and relaxed.

Yang had almost fallen asleep when Blake spoke up.

"How are you doing?"

Yang hummed. "I was just really tired." She yawned. "Well, still am. I'll be fine."

Blake pulled back, studying her face. "Even after the fight?"

"Well, yeah, I--" Yang cut herself off, catching up to what Blake was really asking about: her arm.

She rolled onto her back, holding her right arm up in front of herself, flexing it. The joints moved as smoothly as ever, the unmarked metal glinting. Unease still swirled in her stomach, but nothing like it had been at first, when she'd barely been able to look at it. Her arm was _useful_. She'd fought off a group - a flight, Weiss had called them - of griffons with her partner, and she knew she would have been hopelessly thrown off without it.

"I'm... okay," Yang said, testing the words. They felt right. The fight had been fine, she'd been more focused on making it through than fighting with her new arm. Even Weiss looking at her arm, bringing it up, only got a flinch, not anything worse.

"I'm glad."

Yang turned back over, facing Blake. The other girl wore a smile that was so genuine, so happy. Yang reached out, stroking the backs of her fingers over Blake's cheek. Blake's eyes closed, smile still in place, and Yang wanted to kiss her so badly she ached with it. Not because she wanted her - that too, but not _just_ that - but because that felt like what she should do, something to show Blake how she was feeling.

 _'Not yet,'_ Yang thought. Maybe soon, but not now.

Yang carefully moved closer, head resting on Blake's shoulder and her arm wrapped around her waist. Blake's fingers tangled with hers.

"Stay with me tonight," Blake said quietly, after they'd settled in.

"You sure?" Yang asked.

Blake nodded. "We almost didn't make it, today. And I..." She shifted a little, and Yang thought she was probably blushing. "I want you close. If you're okay with that."

"Yeah," Yang said, a smile curling one corner of her mouth, "I'm pretty okay with that."

That night, Yang slept curled around Blake instead of the other way around. She ended up sore from the fight and from sleeping in the same position all night, but she didn't care. She woke up with her nose tucked into the curve of Blake's neck, surrounded by her scent and warmed by her body, and thought that she could get used to this.


	26. Confessions

As soon as Blake got in the shower the next morning, Yang walked down the hall to Ruby and Weiss' room.

Ruby answered the door, surprisingly already dressed and ready. Weiss sat at the small desk in the corner, hand-writing something.

"Morning," Ruby said, not entirely awake despite being dressed and put together.

"Yang," Weiss said without looking up.

"Morning," Yang returned, walking in.

Instinct prompted Yang to collapse on Ruby's bed instead of pulling her sister outside the way she'd planned to. She trusted Weiss.

" _Ruby_ ," Yang said dramatically, flopping over the bedspread.

"Yes, sister of mine?" Ruby perched on the edge of the bed, looking a little more awake.

Yang flipped over on her belly. She sighed, but couldn't help but smile. "I... I love Blake."

Ruby blinked. "So do I? I'm pretty sure Weiss loves her, too."

Yang could almost feel Weiss' eyeroll from here, but the other girl didn't say anything, which was her basically admitting it.

"No, Ruby," Yang looked her sister straight in the eyes, trying to tell her how much she meant this, " _I love Blake_."

"Finally," Weiss cut in, turning in her chair. She refolded her legs, raising an eyebrow. This time Yang didn't have to imagine her eyes rolling, because Weiss did it so hard it looked painful. "Ruby and I were considering staging an intervention."

Yang looked to Ruby, betrayed.

Ruby held up her hands. "Woah, woah. I mean it was... kinda obvious." Yang huffed, and Ruby waved her hands. "It _was_ , here, look--" Ruby pulled out her scroll, tapped it a few times, and turned it toward Yang.

It was a selfie Yang had talked Blake into taking back when they were at Beacon. Blake had tried hiding, then being grumpy, but Yang had gotten her to smile in the final copy. Ruby paged over to another picture. A picture of Yang trying to coax Blake into sparring unarmed. Another page over, and it was the cafe selfie that Ruby had whined at her about.

"Uh, yeah, those are definitely pictures, Rubes, not really explaining anything," Yang said, squinting at her crazy younger sister.

"Look again," Weiss commanded, "and this time pay attention to the way you two look at one another."

Ruby helpfully started back at the bottom, and Yang squinted, trying to see what Weiss saw.

Holy crap.

"Woah," Yang breathed, taking the scroll from her sister.

In every picture, her and Blake were looking at each other like they were the center of each other's world. Even in the one they used to tease Ruby, there was still something there, something that took Yang's breath away to look at. She'd known Blake was in love with her, but she hadn't really _seen_ it before. And... that was Yang. Being in love with Blake.

"I hope you appreciate the amount of effort it took to not club you over the head with this," Weiss said, in her 'don't make me have feelings' voice.

"So," Ruby said, "what are you gonna do? You're gonna tell her, right?"

Yang handed the scroll back. "I don't know. It's not really the time, is it? With what we're doing."

"Yang," Ruby said, so sincere it almost hurt, "it's always the time. You... you look at her like Dad's looking at Mom in all the pictures."

Yang's heart twisted in her chest.

"You don't regret the confessions you make," Weiss said, staring through one of the walls, "you regret the ones you don't."

There had to be a story there, but Yang knew better than to push Weiss before she was ready to talk about something.

A knock on the door interrupted the moment, and Ruby hopped up to answer. When Ruby opened the door, Blake tilted her head at the three of them.

"Making plans without me?" She asked.

"Nope," Yang said, bouncing off of the bed. "Just waiting for you to finish!"

Blake nodded. "I'm done."

It didn't take them long after that to get on the road. Weiss folded up her paper and stuck it in a pocket, and everyone else just needed to grab their packs. As Yang threw on her jacket, she thought that it had taken a hell of a beating in that fight. She'd have to replace it once they got to Haven.

Yang had forgotten what it was like to travel with Ruby. The younger girl chattered on, sometimes stopping to look at something by the side of the road, or taking a picture. Yang let it wash over her, grinning. She knew how to let Ruby talk while screening for stuff Ruby actually wanted to talk to other people about.

She spent most of their travel time teasing Ruby, poking at Weiss, and 'accidentally' brushing up against Blake. She didn't go for anything solid, but she wanted to touch her partner, and going by the looks she got, Blake didn't mind.

When they stopped for the night, Weiss glanced at her before getting two rooms with two beds each. Without any talking about it, they split so that Ruby and Weiss shared one, and Yang and Blake were in the other. 

Yang was totally okay with this. More than okay; she really thought she was gonna end up in a room with Ruby, and while she loved her sister, it wasn't Ruby she wanted in the room if she had a nightmare. Better if Ruby didn't have to deal with that.

They were only a day away from the little port city where they'd be taking a ship to Mistral, and Yang could already smell the ocean when she opened the windows to their room.

Blake stood next to her, their shoulders brushing. Yang closed her eyes, leaning into the other girl, and something tight in her chest loosened. She could smell the ocean, feel Blake's heat at her side, and for once she didn't care at all that the arm at her side wasn't the one she was born with. She had almost everyone she cared about close at hand and safe, and that peace was worth everything.

"I love you." Yang hadn't meant to say it, but it was true, and it felt right.

"I love you, too," Blake said simply, wrapping an arm around her shoulders.

Yang's eyes slowly slid open. That... was not the reaction she had been expecting. She turned to Blake, searching her face. There was nothing there but the same peace that Yang felt, so she tried again:

"No, Blake, I'm _in love_ with you."

There it was. Blake's breath caught, and she swallowed hard. She brought her other hand up to rest on Yang's shoulder. "You... are?"

Yang nodded. "Yeah, I... I think I've been in love with you this whole time. I talked to Ruby, and she showed me some pictures of us, and... woah." She shook her head. "I'll have to show you, because once I saw what they meant I could not unsee it."

Blake searched her eyes, and Yang could see her trying to stamp down on feelings. "You said... about your arm...."

Yang looked down at it, flexing the fingers. "I'm still not the best, but it's... better." She met Blake's eyes again. "And it's not really the time, but if we let it, it'll never be the time. Even after this, there will be rebuilding, and then figuring out what we want to do with our lives... and..." Yang swallowed. "And if you'll have me, I want to do that with you."

"Of course," Blake said immediately, "I'm just surprised. I thought I'd be waiting longer for an answer."

Yang gave her a sideways smile. "I think I took long enough."

Blake slowly pulled her closer, a smile forming. "You're in love with me."

"Yep," Yang grinned, cupping Blake's face in her hands. The other girl flinched, and Yang's heart sank. She pulled her metal hand away, opening her mouth to apologize. She should have known better.

"It's just cold," Blake said, immediately grabbing Yang's right hand and putting it back where it was.

Yang watched Blake's face, but there was no disgust there, just... just love. She dared to stroke the thumb of her right hand along Blake's jaw, ignoring the little voice in the back of her mind that said she shouldn't, and Blake closed her eyes with a soft hum.

"Can I kiss you?" Yang whispered.

"Yes."

Yang leaned forward, and Blake matched her. Their lips met, and Yang thought she was going to explode with the lightness and warmth that welled up in her. They parted, but Yang stole another kiss, and another, until she was smiling against Blake's mouth. Blake laughed, and the sound set her heart fluttering.

"I love you," Yang said, because she could. She stole another kiss, shivering with how happy she was. "I love you."

"I love you, too," Blake murmured, holding her tight.

Yang buried her head in Blake's neck, warm and comfortable and so at peace she couldn't imagine being any other way. Blake held her close, and the two of them breathed together, swaying from side to side.

"Hey," Blake said softly, stroking a hand down her back. "Show me those pictures?"

Yang pulled back, smiling. "You are not gonna be able to unsee this."


	27. Headed West

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There's some making out in this one, and it gets a little rough. It's all got explicit, enthusiastic consent.

"Hey," Yang nudged Blake, after they'd grinned over the pictures and settled in for a good cuddle up against the headboard, "how do you feel about telling people about this? I mean, I really don't think I can keep it from Ruby."

Blake looked up at her from where she was leaned against Yang's shoulder. "I don't mind people knowing. I'm not much for public affection, though."

Yang grinned. "So I can't kiss you to make Weiss squirm?"

Blake's eyes drifted over to the opposite wall of their room. "Weiss and Ruby are... fine." She turned back to Yang, eyebrow raised. "So long as it's just a kiss."

Snorting, Yang said, "You really think I'm gonna make out with you in front of my sister?"

"I think you'd do it in front of Weiss," Blake said dryly, resettling herself.

Yang laughed. Okay, she probably would have tried if Blake hadn't said something. Weiss needed to loosen up sometimes!

Someone knocked at the door. Yang looked down to Blake just to check - the other girl didn't bother opening her eyes, though the ear flick told Yang she was still awake and paying attention - then called, "come in!"

Weiss walked in, followed by Ruby. Weiss paused, eyes flicking between Yang and Blake, then continued, until she stood at the foot of the bed.

"We have a situation," Weiss said, arms folded over her chest. "I had booked our respective teams passage on two separate ships. However, one of them has cancelled their voyage." She rolled a shoulder. "Naturally, I booked us all passage on the remaining vessel, but the plan to split us up is no longer viable."

"It was never perfect," Blake murmured. "If anyone on either ship was part of Cinder's network, she was going to find out at least part of it."

"Well," Ruby said, rubbing the back of her head, "at least we'll all be together?"

"We'll be fine," Yang said, waving her free hand. The other was in Blake's custody.

Ruby squinted, then looked from Yang to Blake with her head tilted.

Yang laughed. She cupped Blake's chin, lifting the other girl's head to face her. She went in slow, just in case, but Blake came easily. Yang pressed her lips carefully to Blake's, and couldn't help but smile.

"Get it!" Ruby cheered.

When Yang looked up, Ruby was grinning, and Weiss rolled her eyes, but Yang could see a smile tug at her mouth.

"Finally," Weiss said.

Blake snorted. Yang just kept grinning.

"Romantic matters aside," Weiss waved a hand, "we have to leave early tomorrow morning, or risk missing our ship."

"Roger," Yang grinned, throwing off a lazy salute.

The other two left, Ruby flashing her a thumbs-up on her way out.

"Look at you and your self-control," Blake teased, pressing a kiss to Yang's shoulder.

Yang snorted. "Again, not gonna make out with you in front of my sister."

Blake mumbled something. Yang looked down, watching Blake's breathing even out. She laughed under her breath, getting comfortable. She could do a lot worse than being a pillow for a gorgeous girl.

[*]

Yang woke up face-to-face with Blake, legs tangled together and one of Blake's hands resting on the back of her neck. She stretched as subtly as she could, enjoying the closeness. No matter how often they slept in the same bed, it was still nice to know that Blake trusted her enough to sleep next to her.

She reached past Blake for her scroll, disabling the alarm. There were way better ways to wake up than to her electronica ringtones.

"Hey," Yang murmured, carding a hand through Blake's hair.

Blake turned into her touch, a sound rumbling to life in her throat. Yang grinned, wondering if this was what she thought it was. The rumble radiated out into her chest, and Yang couldn't help a full-on smile. The other girl blinked awake, and the noise - the _purr_ \- caught in her throat.

"Oh my god." Blake turned face-down, burying her face in the pillow and turning the edges over her head. "Please kill me." It was muffled, but Yang still definitely knew what she said.

"You purr." Yang couldn't stop smiling. She scooted over, wrapping an arm around Blake's waist. "You _purr_."

Blake groaned, twisting herself further into the pillow. Yang tugged on the pillow, taking it away.

"No suffocating yourself," she said. "Besides, it's cute."

"I haven't done that in years," Blake said, deciding to hide herself away in Yang's neck instead. "Not since...."

Yang wrapped her arms tight around Blake. "Since Adam?"

Blake nodded, tensing up.

"Hey," Yang said, stroking Blake's back. "You can talk to me about him, you know."

"After what he did to you?" Blake asked, still tensed.

After taking her arm, Blake meant. Yang took a deep breath. Yes, she still hated him. She probably always would. Even when he was long dead, just dusty bones and a mask nailed to her wall, she would probably hate him. But if Blake needed to talk about him, then Yang would be around for that.

"You said it yourself," Yang said, kissing the top of her head. "The Adam you left behind wasn't the one that you fell in love with."

Blake burrowed in closer. "I never said I was in love with him."

"Were you?" Yang asked, genuinely curious.

Blake sighed. She curled her fingers around Yang's wrist, thumb rubbing against her pulse point. "Not like I am with you. But yes, I was."

Yang pulled back enough to hook a finger under Blake's chin, angling her face upward. She pressed their lips together, trying to say what she couldn't put into words.

"Thank you for telling me," Yang whispered.

Blake studied her face, looking as if she couldn't believe what she was hearing.

"You can't-- you shouldn't--" For the first time she could remember, Yang heard Blake stumble over her words. "Why would you thank me for that?"

Yang stroked her fingers along Blake's jaw. "It's hard for you to talk about him, isn't it? But you did anyway. Because I asked. So, thank you."

Blake stared, her yellow eyes flicking between Yang's. Her face was so open, disbelief and love and hope. Yang couldn't help but smile and wonder how she'd gotten this lucky.

The other girl lunged forward, slotting her mouth against Yang's again and again. "I love you," she mumbled between kisses, pressing herself close. "I love you so much."

Yang tried to answer, but Blake's mouth stole the air from her, ignited the fire in her gut. She moaned, already starting to pant. Blake rolled her onto her back, her kisses becoming fiercer, more intense. Yang smoothed her palm down Blake's back, painfully aware that there was very little clothing between them.

Blake's mouth tore from hers, nipping at her jaw. Yang's hips jerked upward, and Blake groaned into her ear. Heat sparked through her body, and Yang dropped her hand to Blake's ass. The other girl rolled into the touch, moving down Yang's jaw to her neck. Yang tilted her head, giving Blake all the skin she wanted. She slid a thigh in-between Blake's legs, sucking in a breath when her partner made a choked-off noise.

Teeth came down on her shoulder and Yang moaned, lightning shooting down her spine. "Harder," Yang said, wrapping one leg around Blake's. "Bite me harder."

No hesitation before the second bite. Light sparked in Yang's vision, and she rolled her hips upward, hissing under her breath. God, yes. Blake bit down again, in a different spot, and Yang knew she was getting loud, but she couldn't help it; she had a thing about her shoulders.

Blake's scroll started to buzz. Blake stilled.

"Don't you dare," Yang growled, flipping them over. She shifted to straddle Blake's hips, hands on her partner's bare stomach. "Blake Belladonna, so help me, if you leave me like this for a _scroll_ \--"

"It might be important," Blake murmured. Somehow her hands still found their way to Yang's hips.

Yang raised an eyebrow. She raised one hand to her own stomach, slowly pushing her shirt upward. "More important than...?"

Blake's eyes dropped immediately, following Yang's hand as it revealed inch after inch of skin. Her scroll stopped buzzing. Blake's attention didn't waver.

Yang got to just below her tits, totally set on getting her shirt off, when someone knocked on the door. Her shoulders slumped, and she shook her head. What was her life?

"Guys?" Ruby's voice was basically a cold shower, and Yang rolled off of Blake, groaning. "Um. I tried calling first, but you didn't answer the phone...."

Blake scrubbed a hand through her hair, sitting up. Yang closed her eyes for a second, then followed suit.

"Yeah, give us a sec, Rubes," Yang called, straightening her clothes. She looked up to see Blake watching her, the hunger in her eyes dimmed but not gone.

Yang leaned over and kissed her just once, gentle and lingering. Blake softened against her, sighing.

"Another time?" Yang whispered, tucking a piece of hair behind Blake's ear.

" _Yes_."

Yang sighed. Her life was hard. "Coming, Ruby!"


	28. Setting Sail

Somehow, Yang forgave her sister for cockblocking her. The four of them got to the little port town with about an hour to spare, and split up to do some resupplying.

Yang had enough shells for Ember Celica to get by if she needed to. With her style of fighting, though, more was definitely better. Blake picked up some ammunition for Gambol Shroud, but she was usually more conservative with her shots than Yang. What Blake could really use were Dust rounds, but those would have to wait until they got to the city of Mistral.

"Hey," Yang asked, when they were in the weapons store checking out, "how did you find out about using Dust on your Semblance?"

Blake looked at her sidelong. "I experimented. Isn't that how most people do it?"

Yang shrugged. "I've never tried using Dust with it. I only found it 'cause I got really, really mad one day, felt something pulling, and let it take me."

"And you never thought to add Dust to that?" Blake asked, leading the way out of the shop.

"Well," Yang said, a little defensive, "I focused more on forms and stuff."

The back of Blake's hand brushed against her hip, and Yang took it as an apology. It wasn't really needed - she wasn't mad, Blake hadn't said anything wrong - but she bumped against Blake anyway.

Weiss sent them their boarding passes, and a message that said she and Ruby were already on the ship. Yang snorted.

"They went without us," Yang said, adjusting her backpack.

"Are you surprised?" Blake asked dryly. "I'm sure Weiss wanted to make sure everything was just like she wanted it."

Yang laughed. "She is a perfectionist."

"We all are, in our ways," Blake said. Yang nodded agreement.

The ship was _huge_. Yang knew from ships, had seen them all her life, but this wasn't a plain cargo ship, or a little fishing boat. This boat was meant for style, all sleek lines and shining metal. Yang didn't know how many people it could hold, but she could see their little group being swallowed up on it without a problem.

They found their room easily enough, a two-bed cabin along one of the outside edges of the ship. Yang dropped her bag at the foot of one of the beds, then turned to Blake.

"C'mon," she grinned, "let's take a look around!"

Nine decks, two of which they technically weren't allowed onto, but Yang had sweet-talked their way into a peek at the engineering deck. A gym (that Yang was gonna use the shit out of), a swimming pool, three different dining rooms, a library that had Blake paying total attention, and a ballroom. Not to mention all the cabins. Huge was totally the word.

Her scroll dinged while she and Blake were headed up to the deck.

_Norsa Nora: have you seen the gym tho???_

Yang grinned. "Nora's got hype about the gym, too."

_Yangarang: totes have. we're gonna wreck it tomorrow!_

She looked up, and there was something weird on Blake's face. Blake immediately smoothed it out into her usual blank face, but Yang knew she'd seen it.

Pulling Blake into a little nook, Yang tilted her head at her partner. "Are you... babe, are you jealous?"

Blake couldn't quite meet her eyes. She stayed quiet.

Yang wrapped one arm around Blake's waist, the other cupping her chin. "Hey, Blake, it's okay. You know that's all done, right? It was a couple times back at Beacon, we were never dating or anything."

"I know," Blake said, her ears limp against her skull, "and I'm not... I trust you. I know you're both better than that. But every time you came back smelling like her...."

Yang froze. She hadn't even thought about that. "Oh my god, Blake. You could tell when we...?"

Blake's eyes flicked to the ceiling, patches of red staining her cheeks. "Every time."

Yang couldn't imagine it. If she'd liked someone, lived with them, and could tell every time they came back after being with someone else, it would have fucked her up. She hadn't done it on purpose, but she'd done it to _Blake_.

"I'm so sorry," Yang whispered. "I can't even... I am so, so sorry."

The other girl fidgeted, eyes still on the ceiling. "It is what it is. I knew you weren't mine."

"Now I am," Yang said, firm. "I'm yours, you know that, right? You've got me."

Blake took a deep breath. "I know."

After a bit, Blake leaned in, kissing her lightly. "C'mon. Let's go up to the deck."

[*]

"Oh, man," Yang leaned back in her seat, completely stuffed. "It feels like it's been years since I ate that good."

"Since you ate that _well_ ," Weiss corrected absently, staring at Ruby with a vein pulsing in her forehead. "Ruby, where exactly do you put all that food?"

"Black hole," Ruby answered, only barely remembering to swallow before she answered. "Dad says I've got an interdimensional portal in my stomach that leads to a dead star somewhere."

Blake's eye twitched.

Yang grinned. "Did I tell you about Dad and Blake sparring?"

She had Ruby's immediate attention. "No, and I consider it a betrayal of the sacred sister contract."

"We don't need to talk about it," Blake tried, pressing her knee against Yang's.

Yang smiled wider. Nice try, Belladonna, but you're gonna need to try harder to distract Yang Xiao Long.

"Oh, man," Yang shook her head, "it was crazy."

As she got through the story, Blake stayed silent. Yang figured it was probably because she didn't wanna talk about how part of it had been her and Taiyang fighting over her. Yang didn't tell that part of the story. Weiss might have understood - first-blood duels between rich people were a thing, and most of them were over petty shit - but Ruby didn't need to hear it. She already knew too much about stuff like that.

"Speaking of Dad," Ruby said, when the story was over and she'd gushed enough, "have you told him about you and Blake yet?"

Yang froze. "Eheheheh, no?"

Blake sighed.

"I totally will," Yang said, waving her hands. "I just... it happened like yesterday, y'know? Give me some time."

There was not enough time in the world.

"Anyway," Yang said, "I was gonna, y'know, go catch up on Cheftacular."

She expected Ruby to pounce on the distraction - they watched a lot of Cheftacular together at Signal - but her younger sister just flapped a hand.

"Okay. Hey, drop off your coat when you get a chance," Ruby told her, "I'm gonna do all the sewing I can while we're out here."

Yang nodded. "Thanks, sis."

"No problem!" Ruby said. Yang believed her. Ruby got into even weirder stuff than usual if she didn't have something to keep her hands busy.

"Cheftacular?" Yang asked Blake, nudging her.

Blake's fingers ghosted over the back of Yang's hand. "I was going to go read on the deck. I'll see you later."

Yang watched Blake leave, frowning. She couldn't put her finger on it, but something niggled her about the way Blake left.

"Is it just me, or was that weird?" Ruby asked.

"It was weird," Weiss said, recrossing her legs.

Yang turned back to them. "Yeah, it kinda was. I... don't know what happened."

Weiss gave her a 'yes, you do' look, before standing. "Well, I have correspondence to work on. Breakfast tomorrow?"

"Yeah," Yang said absently, trying to think of why Blake pinged her wrong.

Back in their room, Yang tried to relax as she caught up on her favorite stop-thinking show. It didn't work the way it usually did. She kept flashing back to Blake leaving the table. She couldn't think of anything that really tugged at her worry, but something had been wrong. She knew it.

When Blake got back, Yang forced herself to sit still instead of bouncing to her feet.

"Hey." Yang bit the inside of her cheek.

She didn't really know where to go from there. Blake looked fine, but something about the way she moved said 'tense' to Yang.

"Hey," Blake murmured. 

She pulled Gambol Shroud off of her back, dropping it on the other bed. While Yang tried to figure out what to say, how to ask, Blake laid herself next to Yang, resting her head in Yang's lap.

"You good?" Yang asked, dropping her hand to Blake's hair. She slowly ran her fingers through the dark locks, watching Blake relax in front of her.

"I will be if you keep doing that."

Yang kept going, more than happy to touch her. She gently teased apart tangles, lightly ran her nails over Blake's scalp. She paused a few times to brush the pads of her fingers over Blake's chin, along the shell of her human ears, across the skin of her cheek. Yang loved this girl so much, and couldn't understand how she hadn't seen it earlier. You'd think the giant smile on her face when Blake relaxed around her would give her a hint.

"Today was just... a lot," Blake admitted, eyes closed and one of her hands wrapped around Yang's ankle. "Talking about my ex, your... whatever Nora was... and then your dad, who is not going to be happy."

"He'll get over it," Yang said fiercely, brushing a lock of hair away from Blake's temple.

Blake made a small noise. Not yes, not no, just something to show she heard and understood. "It was just a lot all at once, and there's nowhere to run on this ship."

Yang tensed up. She wouldn't... she knew better, right? "Blake?"

Blake turned onto her back, lacing her fingers through Yang's. "Sorry, bad wording. There's nowhere to go for a run. Not run away."

"That sucks," Yang said, rubbing her thumb along the back of Blake's knuckles. "Anything I can do?"

"Nothing you aren't already doing," Blake murmured, her eyes closing again.

Cheftacular played on in the background, but neither of them paid it any attention.


	29. Space

Yang could get used to eating like this. Lunch had been pretty good, but dinner was even better; Yang tried a lot of stuff she didn't even have names for, but Blake told her were popular in Vacuo.

"Oh, man," Yang said, stretching her arms over her head, completely stuffed, "I dunno if they're gonna be able to top this tomorrow."

"I don't think they can," Ruby said, her stomach visibly swollen. "And if they do, I'm just gonna stay down here for the rest of the trip."

"And leave all your stitches half-done?" Weiss asked, raising an eyebrow. It was a joke, weird and dry the only way Weiss ever made jokes.

Ruby, who would tell anyone who would listen that Weiss didn't have a sense of humor, didn't get it. She gasped in horror, staring at her partner. "Never! I'll finish the stitches, and _then_ camp out in the dining hall!"

Yang laughed. "At least we know you've got your priorities straight, huh, sis?"

Weiss muttered something, and Ruby went red. Blake's ear flicked, and Yang looked between the three of them.

"Weiss...."

The Schnee smirked, not answering. Yang huffed. Blake's leg pressed up against hers. Yang looked to her, and Blake shook her head.

"I'm gonna go do those stitches, bye!" Ruby vanished in a swirl of rose petals.

Yang wanted to press Weiss for details, but Blake nudged her again. She leaned back, letting it go.

"I will see you at lunch tomorrow," Weiss said, standing, "I intend on taking my breakfast in our cabin."

Yang waited until they got back to their own cabin, then turned to Blake. "Okay, I know you heard that."

Blake gave her a sidelong look. "I wasn't meant to."

Yang pouted, stepping closer. She turned on the lowest setting of her puppy-dog eyes. "Blake...."

Blake closed her eyes. "Please don't."

Startled, Yang dropped the look. What? Blake had never had that reaction to her puppy-dog eyes. The other girl sounded strained, strung tight. Her hands stayed unclenched at her sides, but the muscles were taut.

"I'm... sorry?" Yang tried, not sure why it was wrong, but not wanting Blake to be upset.

"It's not our business," Blake said, eyes still closed. "Please let it go."

Yang nodded, despite Blake not being able to see it. "Alright."

Blake's eyes opened, and Yang hated the distance in them.

"I'm going to take a shower."

Collapsing on one of the beds, Yang blew air through her cheeks. Nobody ever told her being in a relationship would be hard.

[*]

Yang didn't realize she fell asleep until she woke up with Blake pressed against her. Her partner - girlfriend? maybe? they were together, but Yang knew Blake wasn't exactly a girl, how did you even describe that? - had her scroll in hand, eyes scanning something that Yang figured was probably a book. Her other arm laid tucked under her head, her legs tangled with Yang's.

"Hey, there," Yang said. She'd woken up with Blake wrapped around her, so she figured she could drop a hand to Blake's shoulder without stepping wrong.

Blake dimmed her scroll, reaching over to set it on the nightstand. She took a deep breath, then turned her face upward to met Yang's eyes.

"I'm sorry I'm so skittish."

Yang blinked down at her. "What?"

"There are things that I don't know will bother me until they happen," Blake said, "and for some reason, earlier was that. I don't even have a memory attached to it, it was just unpleasant. I... normally like it when you try to coax me into things. Just... the situation. I don't know. I'm sorry." She sounded defeated, ears drooping.

"Baby," Yang said, the pet name slipping from her lips, "you don't have to apologize. You sat up with me while I puked because I couldn't handle having an arm again. And it... might happen again. I still get flashes. This is... I'm not trying to get ahead of us, promise," she shook her head, "but for better or for worse, Blake. I'm yours. You're not gonna scare me off by needing some space sometimes."

Blake laughed, sharp and brittle. "What if it's worse more than it's better?"

"You think it's gonna get worse than it was in Atlas?"

It came out weaker than she meant it to. They had been a little fucked up in Atlas, Yang could admit that. Blake ran every time they got close again, and Yang forced herself through shit she wasn't ready for because she _should_ be ready, because her sister needed someone. She couldn't do that again. She wouldn't.

Blake looked away. Her face twisted, but she didn't answer.

"Blake," Yang said, stroking fingers along her shoulder. "I kind of need an answer to that."

Her partner shook her head. "I don't...." She trailed off.

" _Blake_ ," Yang said, sharp. Blake looked up at her, something almost feral in her eyes. "You pretty much promised you wouldn't run. You _definitely_ promised you wouldn't give up on you. We're both a little messed up, and I know that. But I watched Dad deal with a partner who was out more than she was in, and that's something I won't do with you. No matter how much I love you... that's the line. I need to know you'll come back. Even if it's just to tell me you can't do this any more."

Blake searched her eyes. Slowly, the wildness faded from her. She went from a little strange and not entirely present, to the Blake that Yang knew a lot better. Blake moved in a little closer, and nodded.

"I will always come back, Yang." Blake lifted her chin. "I... I might be skittish, and I'm not good at opening up... but I will always come back. I promise."

"I trust you," Yang said, pulling Blake up so they were face to face. "I just needed to hear it."

Blake searched her face, biting her lip. She hovered back and forth a little, just enough that Yang knew she was thinking about kissing her. Yang closed the gap, tugging her partner forward until they were chest-to-chest. She leaned in, the touch of lips so gentle, so light, that it almost wasn't there. Blake sighed, then tucked her head in under Yang's chin. Yang stroked her fingers through Blake's hair, letting her eyes close.

No one had told her a relationship would be this hard.

(Worth it.)


	30. Breathing Room

Yang woke up alone.

She immediately reached out to the other side of the bed. Cold. Her eyes flicked to the nightstand. No scroll. She took a deep, shuddering breath, trying to tell herself that Blake wouldn't run, but her half-awake mind wasn't having it.

Yang sat up, gritting her teeth. She caught the flash of metal out of the corner of her eye, and turned to look at it head on. The katana form of Gambol Shroud laid on the bed next to hers. The breath wheezed out of Yang's chest. Blake would never, ever leave without her complete weapon.

Then her mind caught up to her heart and beat some sense into it. They were on a ship headed to Mistral. There wasn't even anywhere for Blake to _go_. Yang trusted her not to in the first place - she'd promised, and Yang believed it - but she wasn't at her best when she first woke up.

Her scroll pinged, and Yang reached over for it. Two messages from Blake.

_Blakey: I'm going to get us some real coffee, let me know if you want anything from the coffee place.  
Blakey: Are you awake? I found a coffee bar with more syrups than I've ever seen in one place._

Another ping, and Blake sent a picture of a coffee bar that would have Ruby drooling. Yang could sympathize, for this one. She didn't even know what some of those syrups were, and the creamers were way beyond her.

_Yangarang: something fruity. thanks babe <3_

A second later:

_Blakey: Cherry syrup it is._

Yeah, that sounded good. Yang took a second to lay back on her bed, blowing air through her cheeks. Her heart had gone back to normal, but she could still feel a little adrenaline runoff. She twisted off of the bed before she could get comfortable, heading for the shower. Some good hot water should clear her head and wake her up.

When she got out, a coffee with her name on the band sat on the end table, and Blake leaned against the headboard. She held her scroll in one hand, her coffee in the other. Her eyes flicked up, and she smiled with her eyes.

"Hey." Yang carefully sat next to her, not wanting to make Blake spill her coffee. She leaned in for a kiss. "Mmm. Let me guess: dark roast, milk, no sugar?"

Blake's face was so startled that Yang couldn't help but laugh.

"Did you just... tell what kind of coffee I was drinking by kissing me?" Blake set her scroll on the nightstand, followed quickly by her coffee.

"No," Yang giggled, "I guessed 'cause I know how you take your coffee. I'd have to kiss you a lot more before I could guess just based on how you taste."

Her partner raised an eyebrow, resting a hand on Yang's knee. "How much more?"

Yang grinned. "Wanna find out?"

By the time Yang figured she had kissed Blake enough to probably tell what kind of coffee she had, she had moved into Blake's lap, and they were both a little out of breath. It didn't feel like anything more was about to happen, and Yang wasn't really sure how she felt about that.

"Hey," she said, brushing a lock of hair back from Blake's face, "do you think we should sleep apart?"

Blake tilted her head. "Why?"

"I mean, we're together now, and we already almost ended up..." She bit the inside of her cheek. "I mean, we did almost end up having sex like three times, right? That wasn't just me?"

Blake shook her head, her fingers flexing against Yang's back. "It wasn't just you."

"So I mean." Yang waved her free hand, trying to find the words for what she meant, without making it sound like she didn't want to have sex with Blake. Because she did. She really, really did. "It's not like Ruby's gonna walk in on us any time soon. I do still, y'know, really want you. So... separate beds?"

Blake studied her face. Yang didn't know how to read the expression on her face. It was part Blake being really good at looking neutral, and part something new, she thought.

"Yang," Blake said, quiet and serious, "I've been ready to make love to you for a long time. Whenever it happens, it happens."

Yang's breath caught in her chest. Desire and love and shock coursed through her. Blake usually guarded her words like she was the dragon and they were her hoard, but when she said the important stuff, it was like this. Like it was just a fact, just something that she lived. Yang had never heard anyone talk about making love to her. She couldn't really wrap her head around it. She'd had sex, she'd fucked, but _making love_ was something else. Something she didn't know, but wanted to.

_'Not now,'_ Yang thought, fingers coming up to wrap around Blake's jaw. _'But soon.'_ She gently pressed their lips together.

"Breakfast?" Yang asked, when they broke. "I got a hot tip that a certain cold princess won't be around."

Blake smiled. "Breakfast sounds good."

[*]

The gym lived up to all Yang's expectations.

She ended up working out with Nora and Jaune, since Blake had gone to check out the library and Ruby was still working on her sewing. Weiss, she hadn't even asked. Ren, Jaune said, was meditating.

"He says it helps with his Semblance," Nora told her, tilting her head at the barbell. Yang walked over with her, standing so she could spot her. "It's easy to trigger by accident."

Yang nodded. She knew Ren 'muted' people, but nobody had really explained to her what that meant. She'd seen him do it to Nora, turning her into a grey version of herself, but Yang couldn't say what it actually did. She didn't need to know, and some people thought of their Semblances as really personal, so she hadn't asked.

"Meanwhile," Jaune grumbled, sitting by the free weights, "I still don't know what mine is."

"Aw, Jaune," Yang frowned, keeping her eyes on Nora, "you'll find it. It's been less than a year, right?"

"Yeah," he said quietly, curling a weight bigger than Yang would have thought he could work with.

"Doing better than I did," Yang shrugged.

He blinked up at her, stopping mid-curl. "Really?"

"Yup," Yang said cheerfully, no longer bothered that Ruby had found hers first. "Took me three years and some creep bullying Ruby. I only found out right before I got to Signal. We thought it would be related to Dad's since I look a lot like him, but they've got different triggers."

Nora grinned. "Your dad's cute, too? Pics or he doesn't exist!"

Yang nudged one of Nora's ears with her knee, laughing. "Finish your reps and I'll show you."

When Nora got through that part of her workout, they all plopped down on the floor, and Yang pulled up a picture of her dad being ridiculous. He had a gross-pink hat on, and had his arms out to the side, doing a strongman flex.

"Ooh, you weren't kidding," Nora said, nudging her, "he is totally a DILF."

"Ew," Yang said, shoving Nora away from her, "that's my _dad_. Jaune," she looked at Jaune, using her weakest puppy eyes, "tell her to stop being gross about my dad."

Jaune shrugged, looking a little like the boy she'd known back at Beacon. "He's a handsome man, there's nothing I can do."

Yang changed the puppy-dog eyes to the stinkeye. "If you call my dad a DILF too, we are no longer friends."

Jaune spread his hands, smiling. "If the letters fit...."

Yang bounced to her feet, throwing up her hands. "Why are all my friends gross?"

"It's not our fault your family's good-looking!" Nora grinned, standing.

Yang turned on her heel, turning the stinkeye up a notch. "Nora Valkyrie, you better not be talking about my sister."

"Woah, no," Nora held out her hands. "Ruby's _cute_ , not hot. Like a puppy, where you just want to cuddle and pet her and give her treats! I can't even... no. She's basically our little sister."

Jaune nodded along, and Yang relaxed. No man or woman would ever be good enough for her sister, but her friends were so not allowed to even try. Not on her watch.

"Ooh," Yang pointed to one of the corners, "who wants to go for goblet squats?!"

Jaune and Nora groaned.


	31. Satiation

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The story rating has been bumped up to E because of this chapter. There's a list of acts committed in the end-chapter notes. Take care of yourselves. On the other hand, if you don't want to read any smut at all, you can skip the rest of the chapter after "Blake breathed out over her lips".

"We're having a combined team meeting tomorrow at noon," Weiss told them at dinner.

Yang tilted her head. "Something wrong?"

"Nope," Ruby said. "We just have _plans_."

"Secret plans?" Blake asked, raising an eyebrow.

Ruby grinned. "The secretist!"

Weiss groaned, putting her face in her hands. Yang smirked. Blake kept her face mostly flat, but Yang knew she was smiling. Ruby kept grinning.

"Anyway," Weiss rolled her eyes, standing, "I will see you then."

"More correspondence?" Blake said, gently teasing.

Weiss stuck her nose in the air. "I have contacts to maintain."

" _Yeah_ you do," Ruby grinned.

Yang caught her tone immediately, perking up. "Oh yeah? Does the ice princess have a _suitor_?"

Red appeared on Weiss' cheeks, and she crossed her arms over her chest. "There are always suitors vying for my hand. I have not, as yet, found one that has true potential."

Ruby coughed something that was definitely "bullcrap."

Weiss turned on her heel. "Good _night_."

"So," Yang grinned, as Weiss left. "Boyfriend? Girlfriend?"

"I have been sworn to secrecy on the topic of Weiss' correspondence," Ruby said solemnly, "but I can confirm it would definitely not be a girlfriend. If it were any kind of friend. Which I cannot confirm or deny."

Blake set her fork down, plate cleared. "How did _that_ conversation happen?"

Ruby froze. "Uh. Stitches!" She disappeared between one blink and the other, leaving only rose petals behind.

"Okay," Yang said, narrowing her eyes, "she's definitely hiding something."

Blake nudged her. "If she is, I'm sure she'll tell you eventually." Her partner tilted her head. "It is a little suspicious, though. I thought she was asexual."

Yang blinked. Ruby, not liking anyone? Maybe, she guessed. She was young, though. Yang had liked plenty of people at her age, but Ruby was different and always had been.

"I'd totally know," Yang said, frowning. "She'd tell me."

Blake shrugged, standing. "Maybe she didn't know."

Opening her mouth to reply, Yang shut it pretty fast. Yeah, that could be. Yang had it easy, but she knew not everybody did.

They walked back to their room, Yang thinking it over. She'd known about her tastes basically since puberty. Girls were pretty but not _just_ pretty, and it was easy to like boys. When she talked to Taiyang about it, he told her that Summer had liked both, too. It had taken her mom a long time to be okay with it, but she'd gotten there. Yang knew asexual people existed, too, she just didn't think she knew any.

"When did you know you liked both?" Yang asked Blake, still trying to work through it.

"When I started having feelings for you," Blake said, brushing their shoulders together.

Yang nodded. "That sounds kinda confusing."

Blake shook her head. "It wasn't a big deal for me. It was harder to accept not being either male or female."

"Speaking of that," Yang said, flashing her scroll to open their door, "what do you want me to call you?"

Blake walked in after her, closing the door. She pulled her sword off of her back, dropping it on the bed they hadn't been using. "Blake? Female pronouns are still fine."

Yang shook her head. Not what she meant. "I mean like... I'm your girlfriend, right?"

Blake's face softened. "I hope so."

Stepping closer, Yang wrapped her arms around Blake's neck. "I am. But... that doesn't tell me what to call you."

Blake's arms came around her waist. "Girlfriend is fine. It's easy, and it's not..." She tilted her head to the side, eyes looking over Yang's shoulder. "...entirely wrong."

"You sure?"

Blake chuckled, looking back to Yang. "Would you rather call me your boyfriend?"

Yang shrugged. It didn't matter to her. Blake was Blake was Blake. "Blakey, I'll call you whatever you want. I just wanna get it right."

"...girlfriend. Girlfriend is good."

Yang leaned forward to kiss her. Blake opened her mouth under Yang's, and the slow slide of tongues sent sparks down Yang's spine. She pressed closer, erasing the distance between their bodies. Blake's arms tightened around her, a low moan rumbling out of her throat.

It took all Yang's self-control to pull away, and she only got far enough to whisper against Blake's lips. "You... remember how you said you've been ready to make love to me for a long time?"

"Yes," Blake murmured, stealing another kiss. Yang exhaled, shuddery.

"Now?" Yang asked, only barely keeping herself from rolling her body against her partner's. She could feel heat rising to the surface, her senses gently shutting out everything that wasn't Blake.

Blake breathed out against her lips, and Yang felt her shiver. "If you want."

Yang brushed her mouth against Blake's, unable to stop herself. Her heart beat hard in her chest, and she knew every single place they were touching, every point of heat. "I want. Do you?"

"Yes," Blake pressed harder into her, hands sliding up Yang's spine. " _Yang_."

Hearing her name in _that voice_ , the one that crawled down her spine and brought fire with it the whole way down, Yang's self-control dissolved. She rolled her hips against Blake's, her knees going weak when Blake whimpered. God, she had never wanted anyone like this, where she had to get skin-to-skin as soon as possible, but she also wanted to take her time, run her lips and fingers over every part of Blake.

She slowly drew her hands downward, her palms smoothing along the hard muscle of Blake's biceps, then inward to her stomach. Yang shivered when she made contact with bare skin. Using the tips of her fingers to guide Blake backward, she walked the two of them toward the bed.

Blake's knees hit the end of the bed, and she folded downward, bouncing a little. Yang slid sideways into her lap, sealing their mouths together. She swallowed down Blake's moan, nibbling at her lip. Blake's hand slid in under the very bottom of her shirt, resting on her hip, and Yang wanted it higher, wanted it lower, wanted _more_.

Maybe another time she'd finish what they started the other morning, stripping herself slow for her girlfriend, but not now. She grabbed the edge of her shirt, pulling it up and over her head. Blake's eyes flicked downward, then back up to her face, cheeks reddening. Yang took Blake's hand and guided it under her sports bra. (She had _not_ planned for this happening right now.)

Blake pushed up the fabric, gently cupping her tit. Yang let her head hang forward, her temple against the top of Blake's head. Blake squeezed a little, and Yang straightened up, sucking in an appreciative breath. Her partner looked up, eyes searching, and Yang nodded. Another squeeze, less gentle, and a hoarse sound escaped Yang's throat. Her center throbbed a little harder.

Catching sight of the ribbons tied around Blake's arm, Yang turned to catch her free hand. She found the end of the ribbon on that arm, slowly untying it. Her fingers traced along the skin revealed by it, and she bent her head to brush her lips over the inside of Blake's wrist. Her partner's breath caught. Yang smiled against her skin, and she dragged her lips down until she got to the inside of Blake's elbow. Then she shifted to straddle Blake's hips, guiding that hand to her other tit and taking Blake's opposite hand. When Blake's arms were both bare, Yang tugged off her sports bra, letting it fall to the floor. This time, Blake let her eyes drop without dragging them back up right away.

Yang brought her hands to the front of Blake's coat. She waited until Blake looked back to her, then tilted her head in a silent question. Blake leaned up to kiss her, her hands falling to cover Yang's. Together, they slowly eased the fabric off of her, Yang trailing her fingertips over the skin of Blake's shoulders and biceps. Her partner rolled into the touch, catching Yang's mouth with her own.

Their mouths slid together, Blake nibbling at her lips. Yang took her chance to suck on Blake's tongue, and the throaty moan that she got rippled right through her in a wave of heat.

Blake fell back on the bed. She pulled Yang up with her, moving up the bed until they were lying entirely on it, close enough that Yang could feel every curve pressing against her own. One of Blake's legs slid between Yang's, and she choked off a moan, breaking their kiss.

Yang dropped her head to press her lips to Blake's neck, touching her teeth to the skin there. Blake tilted her head to the side, clutching at Yang's back. Yang moved down, kissing Blake's shoulder before moving to lock her thighs on either side of Blake's waist. She lifted her head, looking down at her girlfriend.

A flush covered Blake from cheeks down to the top of her chest, and her breath came fast and heavy. She licked her lips, eyes raking down Yang's body, then back up with open appreciation. Yang reached down, wrapping her fingers around Blake's wrists. She slowly moved them above Blake's head, leaning forward to keep her in place. Her partner's eyes widened, her teeth coming down on her lip. She pushed up against Yang's hold, and Yang immediately let go.

" _Hold me down,_ " slipped out of Blake's mouth right after that, and Yang caught her wrists again.

This time when Blake tested her grip, Yang bit the inside of her cheek, but kept her in place. Blake moaned, loud and unrestrained, and Yang knew she'd ruined her panties with how wet she was. Blake struggled a little more, and Yang pushed her weight forward, flexing her core to keep her balance. Blake's hips rolled upward, and she hissed, "kiss me."

Yang gladly did so. Blake pressed up and into her, her tongue sliding hot against Yang's. She bit at Yang's bottom lip, panting a little every time she pushed upward and Yang kept her grip solid. Yang's center pulsed, and she wouldn't be surprised at all to find she was smearing slick over Blake's stomach.

There were too many clothes between them. Yang shifted so she could hold Blake's wrists with one hand - Blake pushed against her, Yang shifted to keep her leverage, and going by the needy little whimper she got Blake was still okay with this - and push up her shirt with the other. She bent her head to kiss a path down Blake's collarbone, managing to undo Blake's front-clasp bra with one hand. Her partner's breath caught, and Yang sat up.

As soon as their eyes met Blake nodded, her eyes dark and wanting. Yang stole another heated kiss, leaning down to take one of Blake's nipples in her mouth. Blake twisted underneath her, arching her back. Yang traced her tongue around Blake's nipple, then lightly sucked on it. She chased down Blake's reactions, switching from one nipple to the other, using her lips and tongue and the barest hint of teeth. Her partner let out little moans and gasps, cut-off sounds that Yang coaxed into full being.

She realized, all of a sudden, that she could smell how wet Blake was.

A shudder rippled through her, and she let Blake's hands go so she could take off more of her own cltohing. She let her boots hit the floor, followed closely by her socks, then her shorts. When she turned back to Blake, the other girl had stripped herself down to her panties. Yang growled, and lunged for her girlfriend.

This wasn't Yang's first time, nowhere near it, but she had never known this kind of hunger for another person's skin. Chest-to-chest and hip-to-hip wasn't close enough, could never be close enough. Blake clutched at her hip, at her back, keeping their bodies pressed tight.

She wanted so badly to _fuck_ Blake, to string her up to new heights. But even with her cunt begging for attention and her mind barely able to string together sentences, Yang managed to stop herself from just going for it.

"Blake," Yang whispered, dragging her lips over Blake's shoulder, her neck, her jaw. "Blake, baby, can I touch you?"

"Yes," Blake said immediately, hands coming up to cup Yang's face. "Please, I want--" She kissed her again and again, her knees coming up to hook around Yang's hips. "--I want you. Please, Yang--"

She had no idea how she managed to get both their panties off without ripping fabric, but somehow her shaking hands stripped them both bare. Yang slid her left hand down Blake's stomach, her fingers curling inward to drag through her folds. Blake sucked in a breath, one hand on the back of Yang's neck and the other on her hip. Yang's fingers slipped through slickness, pressed downward until she could feel Blake's entrance. Yang slid inside her slowly, her eyes tracing the arch of Blake's neck as her head slipped backwards.

Yang stilled once she was inside Blake, dipping her head to brush light kisses over Blake's cheeks, her forehead, her nose. Her girlfriend lifted her head, kissing her. Then her hips rolled into Yang's hand, and they started to move together.

Yang took her time, setting a slow pace. Blake matched her, breathing out little moans and gasps against Yang's lips. She could feel wetness coating her fingers down to her palm. Blake's rhythm started to stutter, and Yang brushed her thumb over Blake's clit.

The fingers on Yang's skin dug in, and Blake cried out wordlessly, writhing underneath her. Yang slowed down, feeling Blake pulse around her. When her body relaxed and sagged down into the bed, Yang pulled her fingers out, lifting them to her mouth.

She moaned when the tang slid over her tongue, licking her fingers to chase down the taste. Blake's breathing caught, and she reached up to wrap her fingers around Yang's wrist. Yang paused. Blake pulled her hand down, hesitantly wrapping her lips around Yang's fingers. She stilled, eyes widening, then moaned.

"Fuck me," Yang breathed in awe, watching Blake suck her fingers clean.

"Can I?" Blake asked, way too calm for someone who had just licked her own slick off of her girlfriend's palm.

A jolt ran through Yang, and she nodded, her cunt aching. Blake flipped their positions, pressing her body against Yang's right side.

"I... don't know what you want," Blake admitted, her fingers tracing Yang's ribs.

Yang leaned in to press her lips to Blake's jaw, following it up with a scrape of her teeth. "You know how I just touched you?" Blake nodded, and Yang whispered, "Do that, but _fuck me up_."

Blake leaned in to press her lips to the side of Yang's neck. "Like... _this_?" She bit down hard, and Yang made a high-pitched, needy sound she didn't even know she could.

"Yes," she whispered, wrapping an arm around Blake's waist, "god, just like that."

Teeth sank into her shoulders, her biceps, nipped at the sensitive skin above her ribs. Blake sucked a little more gently at her nipples, with only a hint of teeth. Her blunt nails traced up Yang's side, leaving chills in their wake. Yang arched into every bite, every scratch. She wrapped her fingers around the back of Blake's neck, holding on to her one port in the storm.

By the time Blake's hand reached her cunt, Yang knew she was loud, knew if their neighbors were around they were hearing everything. She didn't care. Blake's fingers slid through her wetness, then lifted up so she could touch them to her tongue. Blake groaned, her eyes closing. Yang reached up, pulling Blake's hand back down to between her legs. She needed her, needed to be touched--

Oh. Oh, god. The tip of one finger found Yang's clit, and she hissed out a breath. She buried her face in Blake's neck, spreading her legs wider. Everything was fire, every small movement and puff of air against her skin as Blake breathed just as hard as she did.

"Please." Yang pressed a hard, needy kiss to Blake's skin.

Blake's fingers dipped downward. Slowly, hesitantly, she pushed a finger inside. Yang stilled, her other hand coming up to bury in her hair. She couldn't think, could barely breathe. Blake pressed in further. Yang's mouth opened in a silent call, her vision whiting out at the edges. Another finger added, and she finally managed to make a single choked moan.

Yang twisted to press her lips against Blake's, sloppy and desperate as her hips jerked to Blake's thrusts. She knew she was saying something, but couldn't really hear it, think about it. Blake moved inside her, mouth gentle against hers, and Yang was-- she was going to--

The white spread over her vision, and her back arched hard enough that it should hurt. Blake kissed her cheek, her neck, the underside of her chin. Yang fell back against the bed, panting.

Twisting to face Blake, Yang laughed, all the good chemicals racing through her veins. She stole a kiss, threading her leg through Blake's.

"Hey," Yang grinned, kissing her again.

"Hey," Blake murmured, sounding dazed.

Yang sucked on Blake's lower lip, relaxing into her. She ran her hand down Blake's bicep. Mm, muscle. Her hand kept going downward, and she circled her fingers around Blake's wrist. Somehow Blake's hand ended up near her mouth, Yang had no idea how, really. But then if there were going to be fingers near her lips, she might as well taste them.

Blake's breath hitched. Her eyes flicked between Yang's mouth and her eyes. "Yang?"

Yang nipped at the tips of Blake's fingers on their way out, guiding her hand to Yang's ass and not caring at all that they were still wet.

"What," Yang purred, rolling one of Blake's nipples between her fingers, "did you think I was done with you?"

"I'm..." Blake's back arched. "I'm hoping you're not."

Yang flipped Blake onto her back, leaning down to get as much skin contact as she could. "Baby, I'm just getting started."

They missed dinner.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> List of acts committed in this chapter: manual restraint, vaginal fingering, cum eating, biting hard enough to leave marks, rough sex, some verbal requests/confirmations but no real dirty talk. Everything is either enthusiastically consented to or outright requested, and no angst makes any kind of appearance. Yang doesn't even have any weird thoughts about her arm. It's a miracle.


	32. Course of Action

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There's gonna be a lot more implied sex from here on, and a handful more of explicit scenes. The explicit scenes will be handled as per last chapter, whereas the making out and implied sex will not be warned for.

This time, Yang woke very much not alone.

Blake had tucked her head up under Yang's chin, arms wrapped around Yang's waist and legs tangled together. Yang could feel her breathing, the beating of her heart. Warmth and lightness rose in her chest, spreading outwards. She loved this girl so much.

Wondering if she could get her to purr again, Yang started gently running her fingers through Blake's hair. Her girlfriend shifted against her a little, moving her head into Yang's touch. Yang grinned as a hint of noise started, then Blake twitched a little, waking up.

"Not this time," Blake murmured, burrowing deeper into Yang's neck.

"Aw." Yang pretended to be disappointed. "But it's cute!"

Blake chuckled, deep and scratchy. She smoothed her palm down Yang's back, pressing closer. Yang closed her eyes.

"We should probably get up," Blake said against her skin. She didn't move.

Yang slid her thigh between Blake's, pressing upward. Blake sighed, her hips tilting forward.

"Or," Yang whispered, rocking into Blake, "we could stay in bed."

Blake's head fell backward. The pressure of her fingers on Yang's back slowly increased, sending little sparks down Yang's spine. Blake shifted, moving Yang's thigh into a place where she could press harder against it. Yang could feel her nipples start to harden. She hummed in the back of her throat, her hand coming down to cup the back of Blake's neck.

Then her stomach growled. Loudly.

Laughing, Yang relented. She pressed a kiss to the top of Blake's head. Rolling onto her back, she stretched her arms over her head, then swung her legs over the side of the bed. Blake grumbled, pulling the blanket over her head.

"C'mon," Yang teased, tugging on the edge of the blanket. "I'll take care of you."

The blanket shifted, and a single slitted yellow eye peeked out.

"Gotta grab a shower first, right?" Yang grinned, and turned to walk into the bathroom. "May as well multi-task!"

She got the shower turned on and tuned to the right temperature, wondering if Blake was going to join her. They were still really new, and Yang didn't know how to do this whole relationship thing. She was just kind of going with it, going with the flow like she usually did, but what if--

Then there were teeth on her shoulder, a warm body pressed against her back, and Yang got her answer.

[*]

By some miracle, they got to breakfast while Ruby and Weiss were still eating.

Weiss opened her mouth, eyebrow raised. Then her eyes flicked down to Yang's neck, her arms. She closed her mouth, sighing. Yang smirked.

Yang knew exactly what she saw. She'd allowed her Aura to work on the really obvious stuff - the bitemark on the hinge of her jaw, a set of scratches on her forearm - but the fainter ones? Those she left.

She glanced over at Blake, who was dark red and had her face turned away from them.

"Get it," Ruby whispered, reaching out for a low-five. Yang tapped her sister's palm, still smirking.

"Anyway," Weiss said, rolling her eyes, "now that you've joined us, please remember that we have a joint team meeting at noon in Ruby and I's room."

"Sure," Yang said, ruffling Ruby's hair before taking a seat. "We'll be there. Right?"

Blake nodded. She sat down, but still avoided anyone's eyes.

Weiss frowned, then started talking to Ruby about some TV show they'd watched. They were louder than they really needed to be, and Yang appreciated them giving a little bit of cover.

Yang nudged Blake with her knee. "Blake?" Ske kept her voice low.

Blake brushed their shoulders together. "I'm fine. Just a little embarassed." She coughs. "I... didn't think about this part."

"I can heal what's left, if you want," Yang offered.

That got her immediate eye contact, and a hint of hunger in Blake's eyes. "No. Not unless you want to."

Yang grinned. "Not really. They're good memories."

The flush, which had calmed down a little, immediately returned to Blake's cheeks. Yang wanted to lean in and kiss her cheek, but kept herself to herself. She settled on a wink.

"So," Yang said, "are we in for another breakfast of epic proportions?"

"Yang," Ruby said solemnly, "you have no idea."

[*]

Yang and Blake's cabin was decent. Yang had stayed in a lot worse. Weiss and Ruby's cabin, though, looked more like an apartment than a hotel room.

"Woah," Yang said, when Ruby let them in. "I didn't even know they had stuff like this here."

Weiss waved a hand. "It would look strange for a Schnee to have anything less."

Well, yeah, probably, but holy crap. This even kinda felt like an apartment Weiss and Ruby might have, with Weiss' jacket on the back of a chair, and the table dominated by Ruby's stitchwork. It smelled a little like both of them, too. Not bad, just their personal scents.

Blake slipped past Yang to take a seat on the living room couch. Yang dropped down next to her, taking advantage of the currently RWBY-only room to steal a kiss. Blake smiled into it, lightly touching her jaw before pulling away.

The door dinged, and Ruby jumped up to get it. Jaune, Ren, and Nora filed in.

"So," Yang said, when everyone found a seat, "what's up with these 'secretist' plans, huh?'

"Well," Ruby said, perched on the end of the table with her stitchwork on it, "Weiss and I figured we should probably get some team-ish training in while we can, 'cause who knows if we'll have the time or space in Mistral." She bounced a little. "And most of the ship goes to bed really early, we noticed, so we can probably stake out the workout room and get some stuff done without anyone noticing."

"Obviously," Weiss said, "it would have to be without gunfire or many of our Semblances, but we do need a sense of the inter-team interactions."

Yang blinked. Was she really the only one who'd regularly sparred outside her team? She knew that Pyrrha had worked with some of the upper-years, Ren had a guy he sparred with sometimes, and there were Goodwitch's classes, but was that really it? She knew not everybody liked fighting like she did, but that was a little crazy.

"That sounds good," Jaune said, and Ren and Nora nodded.

"Anything else?" Blake asked.

"Um," Ruby said, "well, we should probably talk about what we're doing when we get to Mistral, right?"

Blake straightened. "If she's there, or has contacts there, there are ways to track that."

Yang waved a hand. "You just have to know the right questions to ask. Or not ask."

"And the right people," Blake added.

Weiss raised an eyebrow. "And those people are?"

Yang looked to Blake. Blake tilted her head, silently asking if Yang wanted to handle this. Yang looked up at the ceiling, closing one eye. She knew they agreed that the others weren't really gonna be useful with asking around about Cinder, but how to say that without being a dick? She looked back at Blake, nodding. Yang would take it. It'd probably sound better coming from her.

"We'll handle it," Yang said, spreading her hands. Weiss opened her mouth, a vein pulsing in her forehead, and Yang said over her, "Look, we went over this last time: Ruby's too young, you're too recognizeable, Ren and Nora would probably rather not, and this really isn't Jaune's thing. No offense." She shot Ren, Nora, and Jaune an apologetic look.

Ren shook his head, looking fine with it. Nora tilted her head with a little smile that said she knew she wasn't the right person for the job. Jaune shrugged.

"But me and Blake have done this before," Yang said, "and--" she forced herself to say the next bit all in a rush, "--and people probably already know I'm looking for someone. It won't ring too many bells if I do it with Blake."

Quiet, and people exchanged glances. Yang forced her breathing to stay steady. She didn't really want to talk about looking for Raven right now, especially when that wasn't even close to a priority, but she would if she had to. She and Blake were the best for this, and that was just a fact.

(She didn't want to even think about Raven, but better talking about her than watching Ruby dig through dirty bars and skeezy back alleys-- Yang would do a lot to stop that from happening.)

"Sounds good to me," Ruby shrugged. "I mean, I don't like sitting around doing nothing, but we didn't really get anywhere doing it our way...."

No one seemed to have anything else to say, and they broke up the meeting. Yang left her coat with Ruby for repairs, and she and Blake headed back to their room.

"Hey," Blake murmured when they got back into the room, reaching to gently wrap her fingers around Yang's left wrist.

Yang turned to her. Blake ran her thumb up to stroke against Yang's pulse point, and Yang relaxed a little. 

She gave Blake a sideways smile. "That obvious, huh?"

Blake shook her head. "I just know you."

Yang stepped into Blake, lifting her arms to wrap around Blake's shoulders. Blake slid a hand up her neck, lightly holding her in place. Yang closed her eyes, just breathing Blake in and feeling her close.

"It's so stupid," Yang whispered. "I've gotta worry about bigger stuff than-than Raven, but she still messes me up every time I think about her." She took a deep breath. Blake's other hand stroked up and down her back, slow and steady. "I shouldn't even care right now. Cinder is way more important than my _deadbeat mom_."

Blake didn't say anything. She just kept holding her, quiet and steady. Eventually, Yang managed to pull back, brushing a kiss over Blake's lips.

"Thank you," she said, tracing the line of Blake's jaw with the tips of her fingers. "It's been about me a lot lately, huh? Thanks for putting up with it, y'know?"

Blake shook her head. "Is that what they call it when you're too in love with someone to let them do it alone?"

Yang laughed softly. "When did you get smooth?"

Blake snorted. "I'm not smooth. I'm just trying to be honest with you. I guess sometimes that ends up sounding smooth."

"You're totally smooth," Yang said, stealing a kiss. "Smooth enough to get _my_ clothes off."

That got her a pointed look. "You took your own clothes off."

"Hmm," Yang said, pretending to think, "then I'll guess you'll have to do it next time."

She expected a blush, but got a very direct look, and a nip at her lip. "I will."

"You better." Yang tilted her head toward the bed. "Nap with me?"

"Of course."


	33. Preparations

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Added tag: Background Ren/Jaune/Nora. Not a significant focus of the fic, so it doesn't get a relationship tag.

"We're gonna need someone to keep watch," Ruby said that night, when they were all assembled in the gym. "Nobody needs to know we're doing this."

"I volunteer," Weiss said, after a second. No one objected.

Weiss stood by the door, leaned against a wall and keeping an eye out. Everyone else started in on stretches, or taping their hands or old injuries. Yang moved over to where her sister stood stretching out her shoulders.

"Finally gonna let me teach you some boxing, Rubes?" Yang asked, lifting her arms over her head. She'd let Blake's marks on her heal enough that they could be mistaken for a lot of other things; tonight was for business.

Ruby wrinkled her nose. "I was just gonna do flexibility stuff. Everybody here already knows how I fight."

Yang nudged her gently. "C'mon, just a little?"

Her sister gave her the stinkeye. "You know I would never cheat on Crescent Rose."

Yang stretched her arms out behind her. "Aw, but Rubes, what if you get caught out without her...?"

"Anyone good enough to catch me without Crescent Rose or my teammates is good enough that my terrible hand-to-hand won't help," Ruby said patiently. They'd had this talk more than once, sometimes with Taiyang chiming in to try to coax Ruby into learning unarmed stuff.

"If it wasn't terrible..." Yang let Ruby remember the rest of the argument. She honestly didn't have anything new, but this was pretty much tradition between them now.

Across the room, Nora tried to coax Ren into wrestling with her, with no real results. Jaune stood nearby, watching and snickering. Blake ran through some of her warmup drills, but Yang could see her watching the three of them.

"I bet Blake would let you teach her something," Ruby said, way too innocently.

Yang eyed her. "Ruby...."

"I'm just sayin', sis." Ruby grinned. "I'd let my girlfriend teach me stuff."

Yang scoffed. "Then maybe you should date Weiss, so she can stop having a heart attack about you not listening to her."

Ruby made a grossed-out face. "Uh, no. Weiss is my best friend, not dating material."

"Don't worry, Ruby," Yang said, "we'll find you a boyfriend after all this is over."

Ruby's grossed out face got worse.

"Girlfriend?" Yang asked, realizing they had not actually had this talk before. Blake's words tapped at the back of her mind.

The grossed-out face eased a little, but didn't disappear. "Maybe?"

Yang tilted her head. "Puppy?"

Ruby grinned. "Puppy!"

When they were all warmed up, they started to pair up. Jaune and Blake got the lion's share of the room with their swordplay, while Ruby grabbed a mat and started doing the crazy stretchy stuff she'd learned from one of their teachers at Signal.

"Place your bets!" Nora grinned, nodding to Jaune and Blake.

Yang snorted. "No bet, Blake's gonna wipe the floor with him."

"Jaune has gotten better," Ren said quietly, "but Blake is the better swordswoman."

Nora looked to him, betrayed. "What happened to team spirit, Rennie?"

"Team spirit can't stand in the way of skill," Yang grinned, crossing her arms over her chest.

Ren drifted over to talk to Ruby about bendy stuff, and Nora nudged her when he was out of earshot.

"Hey, so I'm pretty sure I could get the guys out of the room for a little while, if you wanna come by?"

Yang rubbed the back of her head. She wasn't really surprised at the offer. Downtime, especially right after they'd both just worked out? Yeah, sounded about right. If she hadn't been with Blake, she'd have gone for it.

"I'm dating Blake," Yang said, giving her a sideways smile.

Whatever she'd expected, it wasn't for Nora's to light up. The shorter girl threw out her arms, hugging her tightly.

"That's great!" Nora smiled, stepping back. "I always thought you guys would make a great couple. But then, y'know, you didn't, so I figured there had to be a reason! Not everything that could be, should be, y'know."

Yang blinked. "That's... really deep."

Nora pointed to her head, grinning. "It's not just a hat rack! But yeah, you should come tell me all about it soon!" She paused. "That's... I'm totally not still trying to get you naked, I just want the details!"

Laughing, Yang lightly punched her in the shoulder. "I believe you. And I will!"

Blake won against Jaune, obviously. He conceded when she flicked Crocea Mors out of his hands and got between him and his sword. It was the smart play. It would take a hell of a lot more unarmed skill than Jaune had to go up against Blake with a sword in her hand. Yang did it, but she always had a weapon if Blake did. They'd never fought barehand to sword, and Yang made a mental note to go for it.

"Hey, Ren!" Yang called. "Wanna go?!"

They got through a few more bouts before it started to get late. Ren was just as good as Yang remembered, Ruby switched with Weiss so she could face off against Jaune, and Yang got in a barehand bout against Nora, who used Ren's style mixed with something Yang never remembered to ask her about. After that, though, they all agreed it was probably time for bed.

The room Ren, Nora, and Jaune shared was closest, so the seven of them walked that way first.

The other three waved goodbye before heading into the room. Yang tilted her head, something pinging her about the way they moved together. It couldn't be what she thought, not if Nora had asked her about naked time just now. But there was something there.

"Hey, Weiss," Yang asked, "how many beds are in their room?"

"Two," Weiss said immediately.

As a group, they paused.

"Ruby," Yang said slowly, "who did you bunk with when you guys were on the road?"

"Nora," Ruby said. "Then they kinda... ended up all together. I think they're just sleeping, if it helps."

A moan drifted down the hallway. It could be from somewhere else, Yang could admit, but the timing was a little convenient. And it kinda sounded like Nora, if she was being honest.

"Or not," Ruby said sheepishly.

"Now you can stop glaring at Jaune every time he talks to Ruby," Weiss rolled her eyes.

They got moving toward Weiss and Ruby's room, which was next closest somehow.

"I dunno about that," Yang said, wrinkling her nose. She wasn't gonna tell them Nora asked her back to her room, but....

"It is an egregious double-standard that you watch Jaune like a hawk, but don't care if Nora hugs her," Weiss told her.

"Um," Ruby said, lifting a finger, "I _can_ defend my own honor, you know."

"Well, yeah," Yang said, blinking, "of course you can. Do you... want me to be nicer to Jaune?"

She had been being nicer, really. Just sometimes she caught that weird look on him, and kind of wanted to strangle him. A lot.

"Naw," Ruby said, waving a hand, "I'm not interested in Jaune. But... I would want you to be nice to whoever. If there's somebody."

Yang sighed, throwing an arm over Ruby's shoulders. "I'll be nice." She rolled her head on her shoulders. "Can I be a _little_ scary?"

Ruby wrinkled her nose. "Ask again if I get someone."

Blake touched the tips of her fingers to Yang's arm. "Why do I have the feeling Ruby is better about you dating than you are about hers?"

"What dating?" Yang snorted. "I had some friends, but I didn't really date anybody back at Signal."

"Yes," Ruby grumbled, "and it was traumatizing."

Weiss raised an eyebrow pointedly. They got to Weiss and Ruby's room, standing outside it. Yang turned her sister loose.

Yang shrugged. "I used to have a habit of kissing girls in supply closets, and Ruby had a habit of ending up where she wasn't supposed to be."

"Just the girls?" Blake asked, amused.

"The boys I kissed outside."

Weiss sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose between her fingers.

"And now," Yang said, wrapping her arms around Blake's neck, "I kiss one person in all sorts of places." Blake reddened, but her hands still ended up on Yang's hips.

"Oh my god, please do not," Weiss interjected, shoving a hand between them. "Not only am I distinctly uninterested in your public display of affection, your sister is right here."

"Actually," Ruby said, "I was going to go to bed. Happy smooching, Yang!"

"Thanks, sis!" Yang smirked, stealing a kiss from Blake.

Weiss threw her hands up, and stormed into their room.

"So," Blake said dryly, "did you actually want to kiss me, or to get Weiss to leave?"

Yang laughed. "Why can't it be both? I always want to kiss you, and Weiss was being judgey."

Blake shook her head. "I don't think she was, actually. She and I talked, and she was supportive."

Yang shrugged. "Sure, of you and me. Not me kissing whoever I wanted before you."

Her raised eyebrow said she didn't agree, but Blake didn't push.

"Hey," Yang said, stealing another kiss before breaking away and heading toward their room, "let me work on your back when we get back?"

Blake looked at her sidelong. "You mean massage?"

"Mmhmm," Yang reached out to squeeze Blake's fingers. "I'm sure you're tense."

"And I'm sure it has nothing to do with you getting me half-naked with your hands on me." The corner of Blake's mouth tilted upward.

"Half?" Yang grinned. "If I only get you half naked tonight, I've failed."

Blake laughed, shaking her head.

In the end, there were no clothes between them to speak of, and they both got some tension released.


	34. Repeat

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Recovery is still not linear, and bad days can happen after a string of good ones.

A white mask the color of sun-bleached bone flashed in the corner of her eye. Yang turned to deflect the blow, Aura flaring into place. The sword cut deeply into her left gauntlet, setting it ablaze. Yang twisted her arm, hitting the releases on the now-useless gauntlet. She was too slow. Raven was already moving past her, a blur of motion that Yang was _too slow_ to catch up with.

A flash of dark hair, a puff of charcoal-smoke, and two swords clashed. Yang turned, desperately forcing Aura into Ember Celica so it would fire. She moved too slow, impossibly slow. Raven knocked Gambol Shroud out of Blake's hand, the metal flashing as it spun in the air. She brought her sword down towards Blake's neck, and there was nothing Yang could do--

Yang slammed into the floor. The breath wheezed out of her lungs, and she could already feel a bruise forming on her cheek. She closed her eyes, her limbs trembling too hard to even think about getting up. Her heart thudded painfully in her chest, and she could feel phantom pains in her arm.

"Yang?" The rustling of cloth told Yang that Blake was climbing over the bed, and she felt more than heard Blake sit next to her.

She wanted to tell Blake she was fine. The words wouldn't even completely form, let alone circle around to getting out of her throat. She was lying on the floor after a nightmare that still played in the back of her mind. She was not fine. But she didn't want Blake to worry.

A soft, hesitant hand on her leg. Yang exhaled. That was fine. She didn't want to be touched much more than that, not when she could barely breathe, but one point of contact-- that was fine.

Eventually, her trembling subsided enough for her to sit up. She had to make do with one hand, since she'd left her prosthetic off for the night, but she hadn't forgotten how to get around one-handed. Yang slumped next to Blake against the wall, shoulder to shoulder. She exhaled.

"You died." Yang's voice cracked. "Raven killed you."

"Not today," Blake said quietly.

Yang exhaled. She knew that. She did. But she kept seeing a glint of crimson-coated metal, and then blood, so much blood. Glassy yellow eyes, staring accusingly. God, she was awake now, but her mind kept going with the nightmare.

"Story?" Blake offered.

Yang blinked, thrown off-guard. Then she remembered how the last few times she'd had a bad day, how Blake had told her stories to give her something else to focus on. It had helped. Not fixed, never fixed. But helped.

"Yeah," Yang murmured, tilting to rest her head on Blake's shoulder. "Tell me a story."

She couldn't say, later, what Blake had talked about. She focused more on the steady rhythm of Blake's voice, the scratchiness that smoothed out into steadiness. Slowly, she came back to herself.

Yang laced their fingers together, finally relaxing. Her body hurt from not getting enough sleep, but getting up was not in the cards. Her mind slipped over it, around it, couldn't quite understand the thought. She knew she would be in worse pain in the morning if she fell asleep like this, but she couldn't catch hold of an alternative.

"Bed?" Blake offered. Her thumb stroked the backs of Yang's knuckles.

Yang scrunched her face up. Yeah, that sounded good, but....

"Can I pick you up?" Blake asked, lifting Yang's hand to kiss the back of it.

She shouldn't need it. This shouldn't be happening. But that was true of a lot of things, after Beacon's fall. After she lost her arm. And... Blake offered. Yang didn't ask. Blake didn't offer things she didn't mean. So... that was probably okay.

"Yeah. You can pick me up."

Blake's hand slipped out of hers, strong arms sliding under her knees and shoulders. Yang had enough energy left to wrap her arms around Blake's neck. Blake got them both settled back in bed, and Yang buried her face in Blake's neck.

She breathed in the familiar smell, pressing a little closer. Blake stroked a hand down her back, slow and comforting, until they both drifted off again.

[*]

"Nora asked me to come by last night."

Blake's ears twitched. She looked up from her book, face neutral. Yang could read the little stress-tells in her face, but didn't call her out on it. She just wanted to tell Blake to get it out in the open, so it didn't feel like she was hiding it. She wasn't trying to push her about it.

Yang stroked her thumb along Blake's jaw. "She was really excited for us when I told her we were together."

Her face relaxed, and Blake moved into the touch. The tension lines faded under Yang's fingertips. "Was she?"

"Mmhmm," Yang traced the outline of Blake's lips. "Said she always thought we'd make a cute couple."

Blake hummed in the back of her throat, her eyes closing.

They'd slept in. Yang didn't know what time she'd woken in the morning, but when the usual alarm had gone off, she really had not been in the mood for it. She'd flicked the thing off, and Blake hadn't said a word. They'd pulled themselves out of bed long enough to grab a shower and get some cold cereal out of the dining room, then crawled right back into bed. Blake wrapped herself around Yang's legs with her head resting on Yang's stomach, Yang propped herself up against the headboard, and that's where they'd been for a while now.

"I love you, you know that?" Yang said, fingers still exploring Blake's face.

Her girlfriend's lips tugged into a smile, one that took Yang's breath away. "I know. I love you, too."

They didn't go much of anywhere for the rest of the day, either. If Blake minded, she didn't say a word.


	35. Family Ties II

Yang woke the next morning to the sound of her scroll going off. She wanted to turn over and go back to Blake's warmth, but Ruby's ringtone cut right through that thought.

"Rubes?" Yang rasped, half-falling out of bed.

"Uh, hey-- sorry, did I wake you up?" Ruby sounded completely awake, but not upset or anything. Yang curled back into the bed, fitting her back against Blake's front again.

Yang hummed, not a yes or no. "What's up?"

"Um," Ruby laughed nervously. "Do you have anything else that needs some work done? I ran out of stitching."

"I do," Blake murmured into her ear.

"Blake says she does," Yang said, closing her eyes. If she was careful, she could drift back off after the call.

"Oh, great! I'll come get that... later? Just let me know when you're up! And sorry, again, for waking you up, I didn't mean to!"

"It's fine, Ruby," Yang said. "I'll let you know, okay?"

"Okay. Bye!"

Yang reached out to put her scroll on the bedside table without looking, shifting it until she was pretty sure it wasn't going to fall off all of a sudden. She relaxed back into Blake, inhaling her partner's scent.

"Sorry," she said, chasing down sleep.

Blake reached up to tuck Yang's hair out of the way, brushing her lips against Yang's temple. "It's fine. She's mine, too."

The slow way Blake mumbled out her answer told Yang she wasn't filtering, wasn't carefully considering her words before letting them out.

"Yeah," Yang said, sleep washing over her, "she is."

[*]

"So," Nora grinned, propped up on one arm on her bed, "tell me everything!"

Yang laughed, sitting cross-legged on the other bed. "Oh, man. There's a lot. You sure you're ready?"

"Yup," Nora said confidently. "I've got literally all day."

Yang glossed over some things in the retelling. Nora didn't really need to know about the blood and death, and she already knew that Yang lost an arm. Instead, she told Nora about Beacon, about the back-and-forth in Atlas, about travelling across the (thankfully not too hot) parts of northern Vacuo.

"Woah, so," Nora frowned, the expression out of place on her, "every time you came back from someone else, she _knew_?"

Yang nodded. "Yeah. I wish I'd known."

Nora shook her head. "If you'd have known she was head over heels for ya at Beacon, you wouldn't have been with anyone else. And it sounds like she didn't really want you to know."

Yang opened her mouth to argue, then shut it. Yeah, that sounded about right. She would have at least stopped and thought about whether or not she wanted to be with Blake, if her partner had told her she was in love with her. She didn't know if she'd have realized she loved her right back, but she at least would have put things with other people on hold. But Blake had never said anything. She had kept it to herself. Still, Yang wished she would have known something, if only that Blake had a strong sense of smell, so she could have... she didn't know, scrubbed really hard before coming back to the room? Something.

"But hey," Nora said, bouncing up to swing her legs over the side of the bed, "it worked out, right?"

"Yeah," Yang smiled, "it did."

"That's important."

Yang eyed Nora. "And what about you?"

Nora laughed nervously, eyes darting around the room. "What about me?"

"You, Ren, and Jaune...?"

The other girl collapsed back onto her bed, blowing air out through her cheeks. "Oh. That."

Yang shook her head. "We don't have to talk about it."

"I kinda wanna," Nora said. "I mean, normally I talk to Ren about stuff, but he's part of it. And I mean Ruby would totally talk to me about stuff, but this isn't really her thing. _But_ ," Nora dragged the word out, looking sideways to meet Yang's eyes, "I think you'd get it?"

Maybe she was getting ahead of them again, but Yang just knew that Blake was it for her. She couldn't imagine anyone else getting her like Blake did. But:

"Yeah." Yang tucked in the corner of her mouth. "More than Ruby, at least." She loved her sister, but good at complex people stuff, Ruby was not.

Nora turned to stare back up at the ceiling. "When Pyrrha died... we were close, y'know? Jaune might have been the team leader, but Pyrrha was the team mom. And it... hit us all really hard. But Jaune..." Nora sighed. "He never... mourned her. Ren and I cried a lot. We talked about her. But Jaune wouldn't. He hid himself away whenever we talked about her, or left the room. And then..." Nora shook her head. "I don't know what changed. Ren thinks he finally talked to Ruby about what happened at Beacon. All I know is he came to our room one night and... didn't leave." Nora coughed, reddening. "I mean, it wasn't like that at first. And then it was."

Yang tilted her head. "Isn't Ren...?"

"Yeah, he's pretty gay." Nora flipped over on her side, head pillowed on her arm. "So, I mean it's--" She cut herself off. "I don't wanna overshare? I'm pretty bad about that."

Scooting over to lean against the headboard, Yang shook her head. "You're good for whatever you wanna talk about."

"Well," Nora said, "it's... pretty much a Jaune sandwich. Ren's good for kissing me, but he still doesn't like girls. And I mean, I figured it was just gonna be the once? I talked to Coco about it once back at Beacon--"

"Why is it always Coco," Yang muttered.

"--and she said teams get really close, so like... I figured it was just a thing." Nora's eyes flicked to the ceiling for a few seconds, then back down to Yang's. "Wasn't your dad's team...?"

Yang snorted. Of all the things she wasn't expecting to talk about today. "Yeah, STRQ was pretty... like that."

Understatement, but she didn't want to go there right now.

"So, yeah." Nora shakes her head. "I mean it doesn't happen a lot, but it hasn't stopped, either. I tried talking to them about it before I asked you about naked stuff, but I didn't really get anywhere. Jaune just said something about me being happy, and Ren nodded. Like, that's not why I ever hooked up with you? It was just fun. You're fun, naked stuff or not." She sighed. "I don't know what I expected, though. Jaune's never gonna be over Pyrrha if he doesn't talk about it, and he won't, and Ren's gay."

Yang stood, shifting over so she could sit on Nora's bed, her back against Nora's legs. The other girl sat up, and Yang threw her arm around Nora's shoulder. She wouldn't lie and say it wasn't a little awkward - she was trying really hard not to think about the last time she'd been alone with Nora - but Nora cuddled into her with a sigh, so it was worth it.

"I keep trying to think about it as just... comfort, and fun, but it doesn't work," Nora whispered. "They're mine. Even if it's not like that, they're mine."

"I know."

On one level, she did. Ruby was her sister, and it was never going to be like that between her and Weiss, but she knew what it was like to know your family was hurting, and either wouldn't or couldn't come to you about it. She didn't know what it was like to love somebody who couldn't love you back that way, but she could imagine it a little.

And... now she knew the difference between having sex with a friend because it was fun and they were attractive, and having someone touch you because they loved you. Yang couldn't have imagined the difference before, but now that she knew it, she knew exactly what Nora meant. Maybe it wasn't quite love, between the three of them - maybe it couldn't be - but it was different when someone really cared about you.

They stayed like that, each lost in their own thoughts, until the click of the lock announced Jaune and Ren. Yang watched Nora throw on her usual enthusiasm without a hitch, and wondered how long the other girl had been fooling them all.


	36. Strengthening

Yang spent their last night on the ship in the gym. Weiss and Blake sparred on one half of the space, while Yang took the other side, and Ruby kept watch. Yang had her scroll hooked up to one of the screens, running a playlist of her old fights. The playlist was half for background noise that wasn't elevator music, and half so she could study her old stuff.

When her fight against Mercury came on, Yang stopped. She turned to the screen, frowning. It hadn't hit her until now, but their styles mirrored each other. He relied as heavily on his lower body as Yang favored her upper, but neither of them were useless with the other half. His weapons were on his legs while hers were on her arms, but they even used them similarly. She put the fight on repeat, watching carefully. Now that she watched it again, there was no reason she couldn't incorporate some of his style into hers. Stealing moves didn't even occur to her with the other fights - most of the styles weren't compatible with hers, not that she wanted to profit off of someone else's hard work - but really, fuck Mercury. She turned the fight on half speed, and started reconstructing what she could.

It felt good. Until now she'd just been re-learning what she already knew, reminding herself how this worked. Now, she felt out how Mercury moved, how that worked with her own style, and fused the two. She hadn't done any real work on her style since Beacon fell, and forgot how much she missed it.

"Good session?" Blake asked as they walked out, walking close.

Yang grinned. "Oh yeah. Just you wait 'til you see my new moves."

"Well," Blake said, voice dropping into a purr, "you'll have to show me later, then. See if I can keep up."

To her utter horror, Yang found herself blushing. She covered her face with her hands, trying not to make the whistling-teakettle noise that somehow slipped out of her throat whenever Blake flirted with her.

"Too much?" Blake asked, sounding amused.

"Nope!" Yang squeaked, stopping so she could turn away from her girlfriend and try to get her cool back.

Arms came around her, Blake squeezing her tightly before letting go.

"You're adorable when you're flustered," Blake said smugly, walking toward their room.

"I am not flustered!"

[*]

They were due to arrive in Mistral in a few hours, and the four of them had ended up in Ruby and Weiss' cabin, sitting around talking about nothing. Cheftactular played in the background, but nobody paid it much attention. Yang had an arm around Blake's shoulders, Weiss sat in an armchair across from them, and Ruby fidgeted at the table.

Yang frowned, watching Ruby drum her fingers on the table, then switch to fiddling with her scroll. Her sister crossed her legs, then recrossed them, then uncrossed. She bit all the loose skin off of her lips. Then she started toying with the ends of her sleeves. Yang knew it wasn't long before she exploded in some way; Ruby needed to keep herself busy.

Sighing, Yang brushed a kiss over Blake's cheek before walking over to throw herself into one of the chairs. She let her right arm thump onto the table, her other hand taking out a small package from one of her pockets. She slid the little package over to Ruby, turning her prosthetic palm up.

Ruby's eyes flicked down to the arm, then to the package, then up towards Yang's face. "R-Really?"

Yang raised an eyebrow. Ruby grinned.

Immediately, Ruby flipped up the leather flap of the bundle, taking out a set of tiny tools and the small bottle of lubricant. The set had come with the care instructions for Yang's arm, and she had only been able to bring herself to use them once, despite knowing she should do it more often. Just because she didn't to rip the thing off and forget it existed any more, didn't mean it didn't make her uneasy fishing around the inner workings of her own arm. But Ruby needed something to do with her hands, and Yang should probably have done this already.

Ruby found the panel to open up Yang's arm, carefully flipping open one of the panels. Yang rolled her jaw, but watched as her sister figured out how things went together just by inspecting it. Once Ruby got deeper into it, though, Yang had to look away. She shouldn't be able to see into something attached to her.

She met Blake's eyes, and the pride and understanding in them had her smiling despite her unease. Blake tilted her head just a little, before going back to her discussion with Weiss. They were talking politics like they had been lately, and the normalcy of it helped calm some of the swirling in Yang's gut.

When the disembarking call came on over the ship's intercom, Ruby closed up her arm almost as quickly as she could Crescent Rose, and Yang pocketed the little satchel of tools.

"Thanks, sis," Ruby said softly, hugging her.

"No problem," Yang ruffled Ruby's hair.

Blake stepped up to press herself into Yang's side, nodding to Weiss and Ruby. "We'll be out in a second."

Weiss raised an eyebrow, but she and Ruby left without comment.

"Blake, what--"

Raising up to close the few inches between them, Blake pressed their lips together. Yang melted into her. Blake's hands came up to rest on her collarbones, solid and steady. Yang stole a few more kisses before Blake pulled away, warmth spreading through her.

"Thanks," Yang breathed, more at ease in her own skin.

Blake squeezed her hand with a smile, and the two of them joined Weiss and Ruby in leaving the ship.


	37. Take To The Skies

"Ever been to Mistral?" Blake asked, as the four of them disembarked.

Yang shook her head, craning her neck to look around. "Nope."

Mistral wasn't her first experience with mountains, but it was a good one. Her eyes scanned the landscape, eyes roving over snow-topped peaks. There was something peaceful about them, she thought. Scattered trees and foliage, barely any animals... but that was good, sometimes.

She and Blake followed Ruby and Weiss off of the ship. Ren, Nora, and Jaune had already disembarked, and were going to meet them on the airship. They were a few days' north of Mistral City by foot, but Windpath had regular airship travel, and that would only take them a few hours. Enough people took air travel that they figured they could blend into the crowds as well as they ever did, and Weiss had booked them all tickets.

"It's good we're not staying in Windpath," Blake murmured.

Yang turned to ask her why, and found Blake eyeing their surroundings with wariness, her fingers twitching in the way they did when she wanted her sword in her hand. Her shoulders were strung tight, and Yang wanted to soothe the tension away. On the other hand, she didn't know if Blake's vigilance had a good reason behind it.

"Blake?" Yang frowned, finding her own eyes looking around them.

"My old crowd got a lot of contracts here," Blake said tightly.

"Best not to linger, then," Weiss said briskly, striding out in front of them. Ruby trailed behind her, craning her head this way and that, and Yang cracked her neck, pacing Blake.

They managed to get to the airship without anything happening. Yang saw a couple people eyeing them, but they were a group of really pretty teenagers carrying visible weapons. Outside of the big Hunter cities, they were gonna draw looks. And Weiss would get some people looking at her anyway, with the visible Schnee crest on her back.

The airship was nothing special. A little more beat-up than the ones in Vale, but the vibrations under her feet felt like it ran just fine, so she let it go.

"Think they'd let me pilot if I asked nice?" Yang grinned, nudging Ruby.

Ruby sighed. "Probably."

"Excuse me, what?" Weiss folded her arms over her chest. "Since when are you a qualified pilot?"

Yang smirked, fishing her wallet out of her pocket. "Got my pilot's license when I was fourteen, driver and motorcycle license at sixteen." She flashed the little cards. "Ruby can drive too, but don't ask her to."

"That was only once!" Ruby glared. "And we promised to never speak of it!"

Yang held up her hands. "I'm not telling anybody about your little adventure, I'm just saying that unless it's an emergency...."

Ruby huffed. Yang ruffled her hair, still grinning.

Yang's scroll went off. Taiyang's ringtone drifted out of her pocket, and she groaned.

"I'll be back," she said, sighing. Blake looked worried, but there was nothing Yang could do about that.

She walked down the hallway a bit, tucking herself into a nook. Yang bit the inside of her cheek, and hit 'accept call'.

"Hey, Dad!" She answered, trying to keep herself sounding upbeat. With a little luck, he wouldn't hear her nervousness. She really didn't want to talk to him about Blake right now, but it was all she could think about.

"Hey there, Little Dragon." Taiyang sounded like he was in a good mood, which was good. "How's the trip?"

"Oh, you know, just got on the airship from Windpath," Yang said, winding a piece of her hair around her index finger. "Just a couple hours and we'll be in Mistral!"

"Be careful," he told her, "Mistral can be rough for foreigners."

She laughed, a little too fast and high-pitched. Yang was not a good liar. She could front sometimes, push some emotions to the front and hold other ones back, but she wasn't good at outright lying. She lived with her heart on her sleeve, and normally she was okay with that.

"Yang. Is something wrong?"

Yang crumbled, leaning against the wall. "I mean, nothing's wrong...."

He waited. Yang groaned.

"I'm... dating Blake now."

Silence on the other end.

"It's good," she blurted. "We're good. It's... really good."

"I'm happy if you're happy, Yang," Taiyang said cautiously. "I'm just worried."

Yang closed her eyes, resting her temple against the cool metal of the hallway. She knew he would be worried. She even understood why. She didn't really know how to explain to him why she wasn't worried, why she trusted Blake. Blake had said she would always come back, and Yang just... trusted her to be telling the truth. Simple, but true.

"I'll be fine, Dad." She would be.

"Okay," he said, not sounding convinced. "Just... keep in touch, okay?"

"I will," she promised.

"I love you."

"I love you too." She took the scroll away from her ear, hitting the 'end call' button.

Yang sighed, shifting so she could rest the back of her head against the wall. She wished she could just say he was wrong, but he wasn't. He didn't know Blake like she did, so of course he would be worried.

She didn't know why she felt exhausted all of a sudden. Taiyang had been cautiously supportive. They hadn't even argued about it, or even really discussed it. But right now her body felt like a lead weight.

Blake came around the corner. Yang rested her back against the wall, summoning up half a smile for her girlfriend.

"You heard that?" Yang asked, reaching out to rest the tips of her fingers against Blake's stomach. She knew her partner didn't like public displays of affection, but they were hidden away, and Yang could easily pull back if either of them heard something. Blake would say something if she didn't want Yang touching her.

Blake shook her head. "I just heard the noise, no words. When it stopped and you didn't come back...."

"I'm okay," Yang said. She was. She just needed a second. 

She focused on Blake's skin under her fingers, a little cool the way she always was, softness underlaid with muscle. Just shy of her pinky finger was the faded, jagged scar from the battle at Beacon. They still hadn't talked about that. They needed to, but not right now.

"I told Dad about us," Yang said, stroking her thumb along the faint outline of Blake's abs.

Blake's hand came up to trace along the underside of Yang's arm. Her eyes stayed neutral, a little concerned. Her fingers traced slow, comforting patterns, and Yang breathed out.

"He's... concerned, he says," Yang admitted. "But he also said he's happy if I'm happy."

"Are you?" Blake asked quietly.

Yang wanted to pull the other girl into her arms, kiss her, hold her close. She held herself back, settling for a smile that felt much more real than the last one, and a nod.

"Yes. I'm really, really happy with you."

Blake's neutrality melted into a smile, and she leaned forward just enough to brush her lips against Yang's.

Yang breathed her in, closing her eyes. Then she pushed off of the wall. "Ready?"

Blake nodded. "Yeah."

They stepped out of the nook, and headed back toward the rest of their team.


	38. Finding A Pattern

Weiss had already reserved them all hotel rooms. Yang wasn't really sure what they'd do without Weiss taking on the travel expenses like it wasn't a big deal. Maybe it wasn't much for her, but none of their group had full Hunter licensing, or any other real kind of income. Yang knew _she_ could have gotten by (and Blake already had), but RNJR would have been stuck taking crappy under-table contracts from the kind of people willing to hire a fifteen year-old girl to do their dirty work. Shit, sixteen year-old. She'd missed Ruby's birthday.

Yang dumped her bag off in her and Blake's room, only to turn right back around.

"Come explore the city with me," Yang grinned, stepping into Blake.

Blake raised a hand to brush the backs of her fingers over Yang's cheek. She curled her fingers under Yang's jaw, then drew a path down her throat. Yang closed her eyes, swaying a little. Blake's touch travelled around the back of her neck, gently carding through her hair, then dropped to her shoulder. Yang relaxed, curling her fingers into the front of Blake's jacket.

"You're so beautiful," Blake whispered.

A smile spread over Yang's face, lightness fluttering in her belly. She didn't know if she'd ever get over Blake telling her stuff like that. She didn't want to get over it.

Blake leaned forward, her lips brushing Yang's forehead. Yang cracked open one eye, grinning at her.

"What's this all about, huh?" She asked.

Shaking her head, Blake kissed her forehead again. "Just appreciating."

Yang kissed the tip of Blake's nose, then laced their fingers together. "You're sweet."

Blake huffed out a laugh. "I keep telling you, I don't mean to be."

This time, Yang kissed her lips. "Actually, last time it was smooth, which you totally are. And sweet."

"I'm neither," Blake countered, "but I can live with you thinking I am."

"C'mon," Yang tugged on her hand, "let's go take your smooth self out into the city."

Laughing, Blake allowed herself to be led.

[*]

They spent the day in the city.

Yang, used to Vale, found herself just staring at things a couple times. The differences in graffiti, more jagged and blunt than she'd seen before. A street performer, dancing in a style she didn't recognize. The food, with strange names that caught in her throat. A group of kids in an alley playing with marbles in crazy, saturated patterns.

Part of her mind tried to tell her she wasn't doing anything useful, playing tourist with Blake. But she knew that you had to _get_ a city to get answers out of it, had to feel it in your bones. She didn't feel Mistral yet. By the time dinner rolled around, though, she felt like she'd made progress.

"So, what'd you guys do?" Yang asked, looking from Ruby to Weiss. 

They'd agreed that nobody should go anywhere alone while they were in Mistral. Probably nobody was out for the rest of them specifically, but Cinder had to remember Ruby from the top of the tower, and she'd be stupid to ignore it if Ruby came to her attention. If Cinder were stupid, RNJR would have caught up to her already. It probably could have been anyone going out and about with Ruby, but Weiss was her partner, and had the weight of her name behind herself. If it came down to it, it would be a lot easier to ignore Lie Ren as a witness than to ignore Weiss Schnee, heiress to the Schnee Dust Company. It sucked, but that was how it was.

"Restocked, of course," Weiss said, polishing off the last of her meal. "Apparently RNJR neglected to stop in a city at any point for general necessities."

"I told you we weren't really worried about haircuts when we were out there," Ruby grumbled, with the air of an argument she had already lost.

Huh. Now that Yang looked, yeah, Ruby's hair had been cleaned up. The style stayed the same, but the edges were neat instead of ragged. It looked good on her, as usual.

"And I told you that I won't be associated with someone who looks like a ruffian," Weiss said calmly. She looked to Yang, lifting her chin. "Speaking of. You and I, Yang Xiao Long, are going shopping tomorrow."

Yang blinked. "What?"

"Most of your clothes have been ripped, torn, burned - and how that happened, I'll thank you not to tell me - or otherwise damaged. And what little is left isn't even in your colors." Weiss sniffed. "I don't pretend to understand the rationale behind your aesthetic, but it works for you. This doesn't."

Yang tilted her head from one side to the other, wondering if a little time would make what Weiss said make more sense. It didn't. She looked to Ruby, who shrugged, and Blake, who looked just as confused as she did.

"Um... again, what?"

"Tommorrow, you and I are going shopping," Weiss said slowly, like she was talking to a drunk, or a kid. "You are going to enjoy it."

"Thanks?" 

Yang didn't mean to sound ungrateful, she just didn't know what to say. She'd never gone shopping with Weiss. Or gone much of anywhere alone with her. She'd take a hit for her in a second, but they didn't really do well together as people. Something about one seemed to trigger the other's temper if they talked too long about anything other than team stuff, and they didn't have too much in common otherwise.

Weiss nodded. Ruby snickered behind her hand.

"Tomorrow, then," Weiss said, standing. "I have--"

"Correspondence?" Ruby and Blake said in synch, Ruby smug and Blake dry.

Weiss reddened, clearing her throat. "Yes. Good night."

Yang blinked, still a little off. "She's... gonna take me shopping?"

"I mean," Ruby held up her hands. "Your stuff is a little beat up. You still look fine! But... I dunno... you gotta go talk to people about stuff, right? So you gotta be all..." Ruby made a face. "Boob-y about it."

Blake made a choked noise.

"Boob-y?" Yang asked, not sure if she should be embarassed or amused.

"You know, when you do the thing to get free stuff?" Ruby leaned forward onto one elbow, doing a kinda scarily-accurate impression of Yang's innocent smile. Yeah, okay, in any of Yang's outfits that would have been cleavage central. And also yeah, she did it on purpose. But she didn't expect her kid sister to notice!

Blake's shoulders started shaking.

"Please kill me," Yang groaned, hiding her face in her hands.

"That's totally a thing you do!" There was a grin in Ruby's voice, she could hear it.

Yang groaned again. Maybe if she was loud enough, Ruby would _stop talking_. Or maybe Blake would stop laughing, 'cause she totally was, making little huffing noises that Yang knew was her trying not to laugh out loud.

"Anyway, I'm gonna go back to the room," Ruby said cheerfully. "See you tomorrow!"

Yang sighed, pulling her hands away from her face. Her life was suffering.

"She's right, you know," Blake murmured, her leg coming to rest more firmly against Yang's.

Yang grumbled, "You _like_ it when I'm boob-y."

"Every time," Blake agreed easily.

"C'mon," Yang said, standing, "I saw a club I wanna poke around in."

Blake followed without another word, but Yang was pretty sure she was still laughing.


	39. What Lies Beneath

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Slight correction to last chapter: Ruby is sixteen, not fifteen.

On their way out, Yang paused. She pulled Blake into a little alley outside of their hotel.

"Hey, Blake... should I grab Nora, instead?"

Blake tilted her head. "Why?"

Yang waved a hand. "Clubs are pretty loud. And..." She tried to find a better way to say it, but there was really only one way: "I get hit on a lot?"

"You think I'll be jealous."

Blake's face fell into the neutral mask that Yang hated. It felt like a wall, and Yang hated that she felt like she had to do that.

"I'm asking," she said honestly. "Even before we were together, you didn't like people staring down my shirt."

"Or up your skirt," Blake muttered, eyes sliding away from Yang's with a frown.

"Yeah," Yang agreed. It usually didn't bother _her_ when it happened, and Ruby didn't notice, but she'd caught Weiss giving people disgusted looks, and Blake radiated murder when it came to people who didn't stop.

Blake sucked in a breath. "I don't think I'll be jealous, exactly. I trust you to say no, and I know you can... defend your own honor. It's just... so disrespectful. You're so much more than a pretty face, and none of those people care about that."

"I know," Yang said. She wanted to touch Blake, but didn't know if that was the right call. "And I love that you care. But I kinda... need them to think I'm just an airhead with a great rack." Blake let out a hissing breath, and Yang shook her head. "If they think I'm just dumb and pretty, they talk more easily."

"I know," Blake said, sounding pained.

"So," Yang said, taking a deep breath, "I'm asking if you'd rather stay here. Nora will go with me, and we won't look out of place."

Blake shook her head, slow but determined. "I want to be the one watching your back, Yang."

Yang couldn't help but smile. She would have gone with Nora, but she honestly wanted Blake with her. Blake had been her partner before she was her girlfriend, and they just worked together. Add to that her being head-over-heels for Blake, and she'd gladly take a slightly jealous-slash-protective Blake over just about anyone else. (Considering the kinds of places they might have to go to get this information, she'd take her over Ruby, even.)

"I love you, y'know," Yang said.

"I know." Blake stepped into her, pressing their lips together in a fierce kiss. "I love you, too."

[*]

Yang wasn't going to get what she wanted out of that club. It was, at the end of the night, just a place to dance and drink. She barely saw any drug deals, let alone anything that looked like some kind of serious organization, and she figured that even the drugs were probably just party drugs. Nothing life-ruining. She didn't _want_ people using that stuff, but the people who sold it knew the underside of cities. That kind of thing was more Blake's rodeo than hers, but she knew enough to know what to look for.

Instead, they just spent a couple hours sitting at the bar, watching the dancers. Blake relaxed bit by bit as the night wound on and Yang (nicely!) shut down the people hitting on her. She still coaxed a pair of drinks out of the bartender, but it was too busy for him to stare much. Yang kept one foot on the lower rung of Blake's stool, and flirted with her clearly enough that people could see that they shouldn't interrupt. Some people didn't get the hint, but Yang handled it. Toward the end of the night, Blake even flirted back a little, making Yang blush.

"That... wasn't bad," Blake said thoughtfully, as they left. It was only midnight, but they'd been going to bed earlier, and Yang let out a yawn.

"I didn't see anything helpful, though," Yang frowned. "Did you?"

Blake shook her head. "Just the usual."

"The usual, huh?" Yang nudged her partner. "Since when do you know what's usual at a club?"

Blake huffed out a laugh. "I know what's usual for the underbelly of cities."

"Speaking of underbellies," Yang smirked, touching her fingertips to the inside of Blake's wrist. "I've got one you could check out."

"Didn't you just crack your jaw yawning?" Blake asked, amused.

"I could crack my jaw in a lot more fun ways," Yang said innocently.

"Could you?" Blake asked, a hint of heat in her gaze.

Yang chuckled. "Wanna find out?"

Without any warning, Blake pushed her into an alley, getting her up against the wall. Yang's breath caught. Blake's yellow eyes reflected the streetlight, dark and hungry. She moved until their hips were flush, legs on either side of Yang's. Her palms rested on either side of Yang's head. Yang brought her hands up to circle around Blake's wrists, her heart racing.

Blake leaned down slowly, her breath hot on the skin of Yang's neck.

"I spent all night watching one person after another _fuck_ you with their eyes," Blake murmured, chills shuddering down Yang's spine. She tugged at Yang's earlobe with her teeth. "The things I want to do to you right now...."

Yang whimpered, rolling her body against Blake's. Just like that, she went from zero to a thousand, her body hot and more than ready for whatever Blake had in mind. "What's stopping you?"

"I need a bed to lie you out on," Blake rumbled, teeth nipping at Yang's neck. It didn't even count as a love bite, just a reminder that she could be biting a lot harder. "And enough privacy that you can call out my name."

"So what's this, then?" Yang swallowed.

Blake dragged her lips down Yang's neck, then trailed her tongue back up. She put her mouth right next to Yang's ear, whispering, "Foreplay."

Then she stepped away. All of a sudden they weren't touching anywhere at all, and all Yang could do was groan.

"Tease," she accused, forcing her shaking legs to hold her up.

"Is it teasing if I plan on making good on it later?" Blake raised an eyebrow.

Yang coughed, one hand pushing back a piece of hair from her face. "Maybe?"

Blake laughed. "Maybe I am the smooth one."

Huffing, Yang crossed her arms over her chest. "I can totally be smooth."

"Come on," Blake smiled, "let's get your smooth self back to the hotel."


	40. Letting Down Your Guard

Sure enough, Weiss called her up at nine am the next morning.

"Meet me downstairs by ten," Weiss ordered.

"Sure," Yang agreed, stretching her arms out over her head. "Seeya then!" 

She'd been awake already, lounged out over their bed while Blake read something on her scroll. She loved the comfy little moments they had like this, where they weren't up to anything in particular, just existing around each other.

Blake dropped a hand to card through Yang's hair, not looking up from her book. "Weiss?"

"Yup. She wants to meet me in an hour." Yang moved so she could press her lips to Blake's leg, then rest her forehead against it. Blake's fingers kept moving through her hair, and Yang's eyes fluttered shut.

When it came time to head downstairs, Yang reluctantly pulled herself away from her girlfriend. She didn't mind hanging out with Weiss, but she was also comfortable.

"I'll be back whenever we're done," Yang said, leaning in for a kiss. "Don't do anything I wouldn't do!"

"Do I ever?" Blake asked dryly, the hint of a smile on her lips. "Send pictures."

Yang smirked. "Fun pictures, or regular ones?"

"Depends on if you want me to tear your new clothes off of you when you get back," Blake chuckled, turning back to her book.

Both kinds of pictures, Yang decided, heading downstairs.

[*]

"Ready?" Weiss asked her, raising an eyebrow.

"Sure," Yang said, offering up a smile.

Weiss strode out of the hotel lobby, heading down the street. Yang half-expected her to call a cab or something - Mistral was big, okay - but she just kept walking. Yang followed, a little lost.

"Where are we going?" Yang asked cautiously. She didn't really think Weiss would take her to one of the places where she figured Weiss got her own clothes. She had to know that Yang didn't really go for high-class kinda stuff.

Weiss gave her a look that Yang was pretty sure was amused. "Don't worry, Yang, I'm hardly about to try dressing you in Dust-woven exotic silks."

"Sounds kinda kinky," Yang commented.

Weiss rolled her eyes. "Sometimes I have no idea what Blake sees in you." The words weren't nearly as biting as they could have been, and Yang grinned.

"Well, I've got a great rack, killer abs, ass to die for--"

Weiss scoffed. "If you tell me _Blake Belladonna_ would choose her partners based on physical attributes, I will be forced to further question your mental health."

Yang shrugged. "'Course not. The girls are just a nice bonus."

Weiss rolled her eyes, but didn't reply.

Sure enough, the place they ended up didn't sell any 'Dust-woven exotic silks'. It didn't look like the kind of place Yang would have walked into on her own - she usually tore through little shops and assembled her outfits, then coaxed Ruby into tailoring them - but it wasn't bad. Even before they saw the Schnee crest on Weiss, they didn't look down their noses at Yang, which was a plus. 

(She got a little bit of staring at her arm, but tried to shake it off. This wasn't Atlas, where people with advanced prosthetics walked the streets. She hadn't seen a single Mistrali with something on the level of her right arm, not that she was looking too closely. It was just new, she told herself. They were curious. People did that.)

Weiss strode in like she owned the place, which now that Yang thought about it, was actually possible.

"I'm looking for a few things for my friend," Weiss said to the clerk, gesturing to Yang.

The clerk, a generically pretty girl with slim glasses perched on the end of her nose, looked from Weiss to Yang. Her eyes flicked down to Yang's arm, but didn't linger. She nodded, stepping out from around the counter.

"What did you have in mind, Miss Schnee?" She asked.

If Weiss was surprised by the clerk recognizing her, she didn't show it. Instead, she gave a surprisingly accurate description of Yang's usual style, including her colors.

"Don't look so surprised," Weiss said, when the clerk disappeared into the depths of the show. "I do pay attention, you know."

"I know," Yang said, off-balance. "I just didn't think you...." 

_Cared that much,_ was the real end of that statement, but Yang couldn't bring herself to say it. She knew Weiss cared. She even knew Weiss cared about her, specifically. It was just... more subtle than what she was used to. Stuff like not pushing her about Blake when they were obvious about how they felt, or arranging for her to get a new arm without making a big deal about it.

"Despite what others may think, I do have emotions," Weiss said dryly.

"I know," Yang said. She leaned over, wrapping a cautious arm around Weiss' shoulders. "And I'm sorry if I made you think I was one of those people. I know you care. We're just on each others' nerves a lot, so I forget."

"You're forgiven," Weiss said. Her arm snaked around Yang's waist to return the hug, then she slid out from under Yang's arm. "Anyway. I think you would actually die if you couldn't have the Xiao Long crest somewhere on your person, so we'll be visiting an embroiderer after we've found you something suitable."

Yang rubbed the back of her head. It wasn't that Weiss was wrong, but.... "You know I'm pretty much completely broke, right?"

"As if I would take you out shopping, then demand you pay for it." Weiss rolled her eyes. "If you end up dressing less like an impoverished pit fighter, I'll consider that payment enough."

That was fair enough, Yang supposed. She'd basically just grabbed her downtime stuff from Patch when she and Blake had left. A lot of grey tank tops, black pants, a kinda crappy trench coat that she didn't even know how it got in the front closet. She hadn't felt much like the girl she used to be, and hadn't dressed like it, either. And Weiss was right, a lot of it had gotten beat up along the journey. Between training, sparring, and them fighting off the one herd of Grimm, she didn't have a lot left that was still wearable.

They ended up forging their way through four different clothes stores and an embroiderer before they had something good. Yang already had a good pair of boots she didn't plan on giving up, but she ended up with a couple different pairs of black or grey pants, a few more orange tops she really liked, and the coat. Man, the coat.

A full-body piece that promised not to get in her way, Yang had fallen in love with the different greys and tans on her coat the second she saw it. Add in a little gold trim, roll up the sleeves, and it was perfect. She even found a good pair of sleeveless gloves, these ones sturdier than the ones she brought with from Patch. Those had gone the way of the Grimm they fought.

Throughout the day, Yang sent Blake pictures of stuff they were considering. She kept them clean enough to pass on to Ruby. Blake commented here and there, mostly agreeing with Weiss. Ruby mostly sent exclamation points or smileys, with the occasional confused face, or 'maybe not that one, sis'.

Yang's last group message was a video of her turning around in the finalized outfit, captioned, _"The dragon is back, baby!"_. 

After that, she took a little picture just for Blake: Yang bent forward over the changing table, her elbows framing her tits to get the best cleavage possible. She winked at the camera, captioning that one, _"Back on top ;)"_.

She got a message back almost immediately.

_Blakey: Not tonight. Tonight, I am._

Chills went down her spine. Usually Blake wanted her to take control, hold her down. She bit, and sometimes scratched, and Yang loved it, but Blake didn't really take control. And that was totally fine, Yang was totally down for making sure her girlfriend had a good time. But she could imagine Blake saying that in _that voice_....

"Yang?" Weiss called from inside. "Are you dressed?"

Yang stuffed her scroll in a pocket, willing the red to disappear from her face. She expected to get _Blake_ hot and bothered, not the other way around!

"Yep," Yang took a handful of deep breaths. "All dressed!"

Weiss came in, nodding in satisfaction at Yang's outfit. "Lunch?"

Yang didn't even have time to consider it before her stomach growled loudly. She grinned sheepishly. "Yeah, lunch sounds good."

They dropped off the bags at the hotel without going upstairs - Weiss gave the hotel staff a look that could strip paint, and Yang figured it probably safe to leave the stuff there - and wandered around until they found a bakery/cafe that served hot sandwiches.

Something about Weiss eating like a real person came to mind, but Yang let it go. She could stick to light teasing today.

The table next to them got an entire platter of cookies, and Yang frowned. She'd missed Ruby's birthday this year. Normally she'd make a huge dinner and Dad would keep Ruby out of the house long enough for her - and maybe Uncle Qrow - to bake up something special. This year... this year she hadn't even noticed. She'd been so wrapped up in her own head, licking her own wounds, that she hadn't even tried to get in contact with her little sister. Ruby had been mostly out of range of the CCT Towers, but she could have tried--

"Yang," Weiss said quietly.

Yang looked to the other girl, trying to shake off her thoughts. Weiss calmly sipped her tea, giving her a look that had nothing in it but patience. Yang rolled her head on her neck.

"Sorry." She tried on a smile, but it wouldn't stick.

"There's nothing to apologize for," Weiss said, putting down the tea. "You simply looked as though you were somewhere unpleasant and didn't wish to remain there."

That sounded about right. "I missed Ruby's birthday."

"Having RWBY by her side is better than any birthday present you could have gotten her."

Yang looked at Weiss, shocked. "You... you think so?"

"I know so," Weiss said confidently.

"I still should have done something," Yang said. "Called, messaged. Something."

Weiss nodded. "You should have. But Ruby is forgiving, and this has been a terrible year for all of us."

Yang blew out air through her cheeks. "When did you get all wise and stuff?"

The other girl looked out into the cafe, her eyes unfocusing. Yang realized suddenly she didn't know much of what Weiss had been up to in the past year. They'd caught up on the walk to meet RNJR, but Weiss had only talked about the little moments, things like her birthday. She hadn't breathed a word about being a part of the Atlesian military, or about her father, even though Yang knew they had a shitty relationship and he'd been the one to drag her out of the ruins of Beacon.

"Hey," Yang said quietly. Weiss' attention snapped back to her. Yang gave her a crooked smile. "You looked like you went somewhere shitty and didn't wanna stay there."

Weiss closed her eyes for a moment, a smile tugging at the edge of her lips. "Thank you."

"No problem," Yang said, sitting back in her chair.

The food finally arrived, and Yang tore into her sandwich. Weiss ate more slowly, but they were both active people, and the food didn't last long. When they were both down to just drinks and crumbs, Weiss gave her a pointed look.

"You and Blake." It wasn't a question.

"Yeah?" Yang blinked at her.

"You've reached the..." Weiss waved a hand. "...visible markings stage of your relationship, so I felt it prudent to ask afer your intentions."

Yang stared. "Are you serious, Weiss?"

Weiss lifted her chin. "Someone has to give you the... what did you call it, shotgun talk?"

"More of a pistol talk, with you," Yang muttered.

"Fair enough." Weiss' face softened a little. "Yang. Are you sure?"

She could be asking about a lot things. If Yang was sure Blake would be there. If Yang was sure she was ready for this. If Yang was sure she was in love with her. It didn't matter. The answer stayed the same.

"Yeah," Yang said. "I'm sure."

Another faint smile from Weiss. "Good. You seem good together."

"We are," Yang grinned. "Hey, speaking of shotgun talks... am I gonna have to talk to somebody?"

Weiss coughed into one hand, turning away from her. "I have no idea what you're talking about."

"Uh huh." Yang rolled her eyes. "Well, when you get to the 'visible markings' part, I'll throw on Ember Celica and have a talk with him."

Weiss gave her an unamused look. "As I suspect I will not be able to persuade her otherwise, Winter will suffice for such discussions, thank you."

Not commenting on that one way or another, Yang instead asked, "How is Winter?"

Winter, as it turned out, was fine. Still not taking her safety as seriously as Weiss wanted her to, but still terrifying and healthy. Or terrifyingly healthy. Healthily terrifying?

"I suspect she has a paramour," Weiss said, stirring a spoonful of sugar into her tea. "She's been evasive about her actions of late, and not in the manner I'm used to when it's simply classified."

Yang snorted. "Maybe she'll stop banging my uncle."

Weiss gave her a flat look. "If you think anything less than a major disaster could stop Qrow and Winter from being unhealthy regarding one another, you have another think coming."

Wincing, Yang flailed for another subject. "What's she think about you coming to Mistral with us?"

"She has some... unfortunately valid... concerns about it," Weiss admitted. "The last time we as a team attempted to fight something beyond our abilities, we ended up scattered to the winds, with varying degrees of injuries."

'Varying degrees of injuries'. That was a nice way of saying that Yang lost an arm and Blake had a scar even Aura couldn't heal.

"We're better now," Yang said, knowing it was true.

"Better may not be enough to dispose of a Maiden come fully into her powers." Weiss shook her head. "It's a worthy cause, but we may not be able to accomplish it on our own."

"We can't just not try," Yang said, everything in her rebelling at the thought.

"Of course not," Weiss agreed, "but..." She huffed. "Sometimes it's eerie how much alike Winter and I are. I know she's right, but I can't imagine a path that allows me to both do what I need to do, and properly assuage her concerns."

"I know," Yang murmured, reaching out to touch her fingers to the back of Weiss' hand.

Weiss blinked. "I... suppose you do."

Clearing her throat, Weiss stood. She'd paid the bill during their conversation. "If we're quite done having deep discussions, I would say it's time to return, wouldn't you?"

Yang got to her feet, feeling a little more at peace. "Yeah. Let's go."


	41. Satiation II

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is another smutty one. As per before, there's a list of acts committed in the end-chapter notes. On the other hand, if you don't want to read any smut at all, you can skip from "Yang lifted her chin, her heart racing" down to "They caught a nap after that".

Somehow, Yang forgot about Blake's promise.

So when she got back to the room and was greeted with a predatory girlfriend, her mouth went dry.

"Blake," she breathed, carefully shutting the door behind herself.

"I like it," Blake said softly, walking closer. No, stalking closer. Her hips swayed, and Yang knew that twitch of the fingers. "I think it'll look just as good on the floor."

Yang lifted her chin, her heart racing. "You think?"

Making a small noise in the back of her throat, Blake moved to stand directly in front of her. She lifted a hand, one finger tracing Yang's lips. Yang couldn't stop herself from whining, trembling a little. Blake's finger dipped downward, tracing the line of her throat. By the time it reached her chest, Yang was trembling more than a little. Blake forged a path down between her tits, then hooked her fingers into the cloth of Yang's shirt, pulling her closer. Their lips met, and Blake swallowed down Yang's moan.

Despite her threat, Blake didn't actually take anything of Yang's off. She backed her up against the wall, unzipping her coat and pushing up her top. Yang arched into the hands on her tits, her hands skating uselessly over Blake's back, her shoulders, her stomach. Everything was heat: Blake touching her, the body against hers, the throbbing need between her legs.

"You must jingle when you move," Blake said, sounding amused. It didn't stop her from tugging on Yang's nipples, just at the border of pain and pleasure.

"You're the ninja," Yang managed, trying not to dig her fingers into Blake's hips. "I don't need to be quiet."

Blake didn't reply, busy unzipping her shorts and sliding a hand inside them. Yang sagged against the door. Her partner collected wetness on her fingers, then plunged two fingers inside her. Yang choked out a moan, hips snapping into Blake's touch.

"Fuck," Yang hissed, moving with Blake's thrusts. "Fuck, Blake, fuck--"

They had sex just about every day, and she'd forgotten Blake was going to pounce until she came in the door, but Yang still came with just a few quick thrusts and a thumb on her clit. It was a little shallow, just enough to take the edge off, but she knew there'd be time. They had stuff to do later, but not for hours yet.

Yang flipped their positions, sinking to her knees. "Let me eat you?" She dragged her mouth from one of Blake's hips to the other, keeping eye contact.

Blake stared down at her, surprise in her yellow eyes. They hadn't really gotten to oral, which was totally fine, but Yang knew what Blake tasted like and wanted it from the source. Plus, she knew she was good with her tongue.

"You-- yes," Blake wove light fingers into Yang's hair, lifting her hips so Yang could strip her.

Yang didn't ask again. She yanked Blake's panties down her thighs, leaned forward, and got to work.

She tasted so good. Yang couldn't help but moan, dragging her tongue through slick. Blake's wetness coated her tongue, and Yang eagerly swallowed it down. Fuck, she loved eating out. Blake made a high-pitched noise, her thighs starting to shake, and Yang hummed into her. The slick came faster, and Yang lapped it up, sucking on Blake's clit. Her girlfriend's hand came to lightly rest on the back of her head, and Blake's hips started to slowly move. Yang sucked harder, touching her teeth to the bud.

"Yang," Blake whispered, her back arching. " _Yang_."

_'I've got you,'_ Yang thought, stroking fingers up Blake's thighs. _'Come for me.'_

Blake stiffened, and Yang slowed down. She dragged her tongue from entrance to clit, collecting all the slick there and swallowing it down. Blake shuddered against her, legs shaking.

Yang stood, wiping her chin off with the back of her hand. It took a few tries, and she grinned, sucking the taste off of her skin.

"Good?" She asked, running the back of her fingers down the bridge of Blake's nose.

Huffing out a laugh, Blake reached down to pull her panties up. She grimanced when they made contact.

"Could just take it all off...." Yang grinned, stepping backward to sit on the bed. 

She leaned back to support herself on her palms, flicking her hair over one shoulder and spreading her legs in invitation. Heat still pulsed through her, and she could easily go another round if Blake was up for it. Judging by the way Blake's eyes moved down her body, then back up, she was.

"I will if you will," Blake murmured, already unbuttoning her coat.

"Babe," Yang laughed, unbuckling her belt, "you read my mind."

[*]

They caught a nap after that, curled up skin-to-skin in a warm cocoon of blankets. Yang managed to set an alarm for later, but other than that she forgot about the outside world, safe and comfortable in Blake's arms. She didn't think either of them managed to slip into deep sleep, but it didn't matter. Moments like this were worth it just because they existed.

The alarm went off just as the sun started to set, and Yang groaned, but rolled over to turn it off.

"Time to greet the night?" Blake asked dryly.

"First, time to greet the shower," Yang said, stretching her arms over her head.

Blake watched her stretch with open appreciation. "Need help?"

Yang laughed, stealing a kiss. "Always."

They took a little longer than necessary, but Mistral felt like a city that took a while to filter into the shadier parts, so Yang didn't worry about it. Not that it was possible to worry when sharing a shower with a beautiful girl.

When they headed out, Yang unrolled the sleeves of her jacket. She wasn't worried about people noticing Ember Celica, but she hadn't seen anyone with a prosthetic like hers since they left Atlas, and she didn't want the kind of questions that might come with someone spotting it. They were gonna stick out a little no matter what, but she didn't want them thinking she was an Atlesian Hunter or soldier or something. Mistral, as her dad had told her, was already suspicious of outsiders, and she didn't need to add to that.

This time they went bar hopping. Yang smiled, laughed, used her assets to their best effect, and tried to keep the outright flirting to a minimum. She started out asking about Mercury Black, since Emerald didn't look much different from the typical Mistrali. Unfortunately for her, Mercury didn't stick out much, either. The only pictures she had of him she couldn't use in case someone recognized the Vytal Festival and connected her to it, so she had to describe him. And he was just a guy. A guy with metal legs, apparently, but he kept those covered up.

Asking about Cinder didn't work, either. Yang figured that was probably because no one had actually seen her, because Cinder didn't dress anything like a Mistrali, and she stuck out in a crowd. She finally got around to asking about Neopolitan, even though RNJR had last gotten word of her in Vacuo, and still nothing.

"Ugh," Yang groaned, as they walked out of their fifth bar of the night. "This is so frustrating. Cinder, Mercury, and Emerald have to have some kind of connection to Mistral or they couldn't have gotten into the tournament as Haven students. But nobody's seen them!"

Blake frowned thoughtfully. "Maybe we should check at the school itself."

Yang rolled her head on her neck, thinking. "We could do that. Pretend we want to enroll or something, ask about the people we saw in the tournament."

Blake nodded. "I doubt they'll still be enrolled as students, but it shouldn't come off as strange if we ask about Mercury, since he got to the final round."

Yang winced. "I can't go up there, can I?" Blake turned questioning eyes on her, and Yang sighed. " _We_ know they pulled a fast one on me during the tournament, but nobody else does. When Beacon fell, I was still on probation, and basically everybody thought they saw me break Mercury's leg."

Understanding entered Blake's eyes. "You're right. We can't prove there were never legs to break, or that they used someone's Semblance to make it look that way."

"Yeah."

"Hey." Blake's fingers touched her cheek. "We'll get it straightened out."

Yang gave her a crooked smile. "How do you always know what to do when I'm sad, huh?"

"It's what you do for me," Blake smiled, dropping her hand. "C'mon, I think we're done for tonight. I'll send out a message for a meeting tomorrow, see what the others think."

"Okay." Yang followed Blake back to the hotel, trying not to think about how she was going to become a Huntress if they never caught Mercury.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> List of acts committed in this chapter: vaginal fingering, oral sex. Everything either has prior consent or is outright requested, and no angst makes any kind of appearance.


	42. Planning

They met in Ruby and Weiss' room. They could have squeezed into either Blake and Yang's, or Jaune, Ren, and Nora's, but Ruby and Weiss had a couch and a couple chairs, which made seating a little easier.

Blake and Yang got the couch with Ruby on Blake's other side. Ren and Weiss took two of the chairs, Jaune took the last one, and Nora settled on the floor, leaning her back against Jaune's legs. Still not enough room for everybody to be comfortable, but better than trying to cram into a two-bed room.

Yang explained the situation: they didn't have any leads on any of Cinder's group, but Haven would probably have more information.

"I mean, we could keep looking," Yang said, "it hasn't been that long. But if we check Haven at the same time, that might be faster."

"Well, unfortunately it can't be me," Weiss said. "I am still technically a part of the Atlesian military-Hunter complex. A transfer would need a great deal of groundwork put in first." She paused. "And I doubt they would allow it."

"Probably shouldn't be me, either," Jaune admitted, rubbing the back of his head. "I'm a terrible liar."

"I'm not good with people," Ren said quietly.

"I can come with, but..." Nora laughed nervously. "Um, yeah. I do that a lot."

"I'll do it," Blake said. "There's no reason to suspect me of anything other than continuing my education."

"I'll go with," Ruby said, bouncing in her seat. "So you're not alone!"

"Woah," Yang held up a hand, "wait a sec. Rubes, if Cinder hears you're in town, that could be really bad."

"I'll keep my hood up!" Ruby said, frowning. "I'm not trying to enroll, I'm just there to keep Blake company."

Weiss shook her head. "Your cloak is very distinctive, and covering your face would be suspicious. I agree with Yang."

Ruby slumped in her seat. "Ugh...."

"Jaune?" Blake asked. "You don't need to lie to anyone, just let me talk."

"Sure," Jaune shrugged. "I can stand there and look pretty."

Nora snorted, digging her knuckles into his knee. "Do you even know how to stand?"

"Hey," Jaune protested, pretending to be hurt, "I'll have you know that my standing to falling ratio has improved a lot!"

Ruby snickered behind her hand. Ren smiled.

"If that's settled," Weiss said, standing, "I have a meeting to attend. Ren?"

Ren stood as well, nodding. He straightened out his shirt, walking to meet Weiss at the door.

"Uh," Yang tilted her head. "Meeting?"

"A few of my professional acquaintences receieved word that I am in the city, and wish to have a business lunch," Weiss explained. "I asked Ren to accompany me, and he agreed."

Yang smirked. "What, you don't want the cookie monster or the queen of boobage with you?" Ruby grinned. "No ninja?" Blake hid a smile. "The queen of thunder?" Nora laughed. "Jaune?" Jaune pouted.

"Of my available options," Weiss sniffed, "Ren is both the best-dressed and the most well-behaved."

Yang clutched her heart, falling back onto the couch. "Shots fired! And here I thought we bonded yesterday, Weiss!"

The others laughed, tension ebbing away after the Haven conversation.

"Puns are the lowest form of humor." Weiss dramatically folded her arms over her chest. "And I won't have you inflicting them upon my business partners."

"Well," Yang grinned, "let me know if you ever need a _hand_."

Weiss stalked out of the room, a chuckling Ren following after. Yang laughed. Score one point for her.

Not long after that, Nora dragged Jaune off to the gym. When Blake didn't seem like she wanted to leave, Yang threw an arm over her shoulder, settling into the couch. Ruby moved to the table, pulling out Crescent Rose and spreading her out.

"So," Yang asked the two of them, not sure who was more likely to have the answer, "how is Weiss here, if she's still an Atlesian soldier?"

"Technically, she's an officer," Blake said. "Her family is so intertwined with the military that they made her a Lieutenant when she joined."

"And now she's an Agent," Ruby chimed in.

"Okay," Yang said slowly, "so what's an Agent?"

"Agents only have one direct superior, and when acting, only have to justify their actions to that person," Blake explained. "They can do just about anything so long as their superior signs off on it."

"And Weiss talked them into thinking this was good for Atlas?"

Blake shrugged. "I guess so. She hasn't talked to me about it."

"Me either," Ruby said, getting out her box of tools.

Yang let it go. Ruby zoned into her weapon, and Blake cuddled into her. Yang closed her eyes, just enjoying the company.

"Hey," Blake said quietly. "I never asked: how did the trip with Weiss go?" 

"Good, I think," Yang said thoughtfully. "We talked about stuff. She gave me the pistol talk."

Blake looked up at her, yellow eyes curious. "Pistol talk?"

"Like, you know how the shotgun talk is somebody cleaning a shotgun while talking to their kid's boyfriend or whatever?" Yang asked. Blake nodded. "Well, Weiss has a sword-pistol."

Blake's shoulders started to shake. "So she gave you the pistol talk."

Yang shook her head, smiling. "Asked me about my 'intentions' and everything."

"You made her have feelings," Blake teased, setting her head back on Yang's shoulder.

Yang nudged her thigh against Blake's. "Actually, _you_ made her have feelings. I thought she was going to break out into hives."

"Weiss totally has feelings," Ruby spoke up, proving she hadn't been as focused on Crescent Rose as Yang thought. "She just doesn't like talking about them."

Yang threw her head back, laughing. That sounded about right. Weiss seemed to think that feeling anything other than smugness or irritation was the enemy. They'd helped her out a lot with that back at Beacon, but they'd lost progress over the past year. That was fine. They'd get her back to the girl who posed on a chair while pointing at a friend. Eventually.

"Why did you guys have a pistol talk, anyway?" Ruby asked, running a cleaning cloth along her scythe.

"Well, Weiss seems to think she's Blake's mom or something...."


	43. Protecting What's Yours

They hung out with Ruby for a while, then wandered the city.

Yang still didn't really _get_ Mistral, even though she was trying. It was hard, though, when some of the same people who stared at Yang's ass then frowned at Blake's ears. She wanted to rip every single one of them a new one, and understood exactly how Blake felt when she said the way people stared could be so disrespectful. Blake wasn't defined by her ears, wasn't defined by some fucked up idea of what faunus were.

"Come on," Blake murmured, one hand on Yang's shoulder to steer her away from one of the staring assholes. "Weiss says she wants to talk to us."

Yang hadn't even noticed either of their scrolls going off. She'd been too busy rolling her sleeves up, ready to lose her absoulute shit at the guy. He wanted to glare at a faunus for just existing? Fine, he could deal with 5'8" and two hundred pounds of pissed-off kickboxer.

She let Blake guide her back to the hotel. Little by little, she relaxed. The guy still had it coming, but she could let it go. For now.

"I really will break his legs," Yang grumbled.

"I know." Blake gave her a half-smile. "But it wouldn't fix anything. He'd still be prejudiced."

"Prejudiced with broken legs."

"My knight in shining armor," Blake said. Yang totally didn't blush. (Okay, she did, a little bit.)

Back at the hotel, Weiss waited for them outside their door. She didn't notice them at first, back pressed against the wall with her arms folded across her chest. Mytenaster hung at her hip, clearly loaded and ready. She stared holes into the door across from her, frowning.

As they walked up Blake started making actual noise with her footsteps, and Yang couldn't help but smile at her thoughtfulness. Weiss looked lost in thought and probably wouldn't appreciate it if one of them called her on it.

Sure enough, Weiss startled and pushed off of the wall. She blinked a few times, then huffed. "There you are."

Yang grinned. "No, we're here. You're there."

Weiss rolled her eyes. "I can't believe I voluntarily spend time with you."

"You not only spend time with me," Yang laughed, "you feed me and put me in nice clothes. Blake, how do you feel about me having a sugar momma?"

"She has good taste in clothes," Blake said dryly.

"You are utterly ridiculous," Weiss told Yang. Then, to Blake: "And you are the worst kind of enabler." Yang snickered. "Now let me in, we've things to discuss."

Blake fitted their key to the lock, and the three of them walked in. Yang took a seat on the bed they'd been using, Blake sat up against the headboard with her knee pressing up against Yang's thigh, and Weiss leaned back against the door.

"Have I ever told you how I got this scar?" Weiss asked, gesturing to her left eye.

Yang and Blake exchanged a look, then both shook their heads. Yang didn't even think about it any more, even if she'd wondered for a while what could have caused it. People didn't really come to a combat school already having scars.

"There are very few directly heritable Semblances," Weiss lectured, probably for Yang's sake. Not that Yang didn't already know this stuff, but Weiss had a habit of underestimating how much Yang had paid attention to Hunter studies. "One of the most notable is the Schnee glyphs. Another is the Lionheart immunities."

Yang tilted her head. "Immunities?"

"The Lionhearts," Weiss said, with a hint of disgust, "are subject to neither Aura nor Semblance."

"Woah," Yang said, a chill going up her spine. "You mean, like, I couldn't do the...." She flicked her fingers, meaning the Aura-push thing. Yang wasn't good at it, but she knew that it made up a lot of Ren's unarmed style.

Weiss nodded, her disgust deepening. "Not only that, if one of them hit you, the blow would cut through your Aura."

"And that happened with you," Blake said quietly.

"Yes. Exhibition matches are popular among the upper strata, and my _father_ pitted me against Ken." Weiss' lips thinned into a line. "Without informing me of his Semblance. I thought myself secure in not avoiding a minor blow... and ended up bleeding onto the platform." Her lips somehow get even thinner. "I was fifteen."

Yang clenched her fists. Fifteen? Her father put her up against someone who could literally have killed her, at fifteen? Without even warning her about it, and letting her make the choice? What kind of fucked up bullshit was that?

"Is that even legal?" Blake asked, anger leaking into her voice.

"Do you think legal would have stopped him?" Weiss asked bitterly. She cleared her throat, taking a deep breath. "But I don't mean to discuss that. I meant to inform you, Blake, that Haven has a habit of requiring potential applicants to spar with one of the upper years. If they do pit you against Ken Lionheart, be very, very careful."

"Can I punch your dad in the dick?" Yang gritted out.

" _No_ ," Weiss snapped, her jaw clenching. "I appreciate the sentiment, but all the money in my trust fund would not be enough to rescue you from jail if you assaulted Jacques Schnee. Winter and I will handle him."

"We'll break his legs if you need us to," Blake offered. Yang nodded in agreement.

Weiss exhaled, unlocking her jaw. "I will keep that in mind. Please watch out for yourselves, both of you." 

Weiss pushed off of the door, turning to open it. Yang watched her go, frowning.

When the door closed, she turned to Blake. "We should break his legs anyway."

Blake snorted. "If I thought it would help, I'd call in Sun and Neptune, and we'd hold him down for you.

Yang huffed. She knew it wouldn't change his mind, but she still wanted to do it. Maybe if she framed it the right way-- no, she knew better. You couldn't change minds by hurting bodies. Wasn't she proof of that?

Shaking that thought off, Yang fitted her back against Blake's front. Blake wrapped her arms around Yang easily, pressing a kiss to her temple.

Yang had a temper and she knew it. She was pretty good at not acting on it, but the anger was a heavy thing that pulled on her thoughts and sent her blood boiling. It didn't help that she knew she was _right_ this time, that she knew everyone she cared about would agree. She told herself that she didn't want to be mad right now, relying on an old teacher's advice about managing her temper. Being mad wouldn't help anything, it would just be her being mad.

She finally got to the point where she could just sigh and lean her head back against Blake's shoulder. "I'm glad she has Winter."

Blake pressed a kiss to Yang's temple. "Me too."


	44. Breathing Room II

That night kinda sucked, too. The only fun part was when Yang managed to talk Blake into going to a burlesque bar, and her partner blushed through an entire act while Yang chatted with the waitress. They still didn't find anything out, but Blake seemed to be enjoying the show despite her red face, and they drank for free while they were there.

"You and your girlfriend should come back some night," the waitress winked at them on their way out. Yang grinned and winked back. Blake turned a brighter red.

As soon as they were out on the street, Yang pulled Blake into an alley. Her partner immediately buried her face into Yang's neck, her face hot.

"You okay?" Yang asked, wrapping her arms around Blake's shoulders.

"I'm fine," Blake murmured. "Just... we should go back. After everything."

Yang grinned. "Yeah? See something you liked? Maybe something you liked too much--"

Blake bit her. Yang yelped, jerking. It wasn't hard, just a touch of sharp teeth to skin, but she hadn't been expecting it. Blake pulled back, raising an eyebrow.

"Be nice," Blake said, a mixture of amusement and warning.

"Sorry," Yang said, tucking a piece of hair behind Blake's ear. "You're cute when you're flustered. I'll be nicer about it."

Blake leaned in for a kiss, and Yang figured she was forgiven.

"Seriously, though, are you good?" Yang searched Blake's eyes. "We can head back for the night, it's no big deal."

Blake shook her head. "I'm fine."

They didn't find anything. There was one guy who said he might have seen someone like Emerald, but by the way he described her, Yang didn't think so. Emerald didn't seem like the type for tube dresses, or fancy drinks.

"Jaune and I are going to Haven tomorrow," Blake said, when they were winding down in their room.

"Yeah?" Yang slid into the bed next to her, shower-warm and relaxed. "Be careful, babe."

Blake cuddled in under Yang's chin, tangling their legs together. "Aren't I always?"

Yang snorted. "You enrolled in combat school after ditching a terrorist group. I don't think you know how to be careful."

"Calculated risks," Blake mumbled, already sounding sleepy.

"Uh huh." Yang didn't believe her, but let it go. She pulled Blake a little closer, and let herself fall asleep.

[*]

The next morning, Yang woke alone. The space next to her had already gone cold. She had enough clarity to take a deep breath instead of freaking out, and looked around the room. Empty. No Blake. No Gambol Shroud.

_'Blake said she'd always come back,'_ Yang reminded herself. She reached for her scroll.

_Blakey: Weiss says she's going to kidnap me after Haven._

Right. Blake went to Haven with Jaune, to look into Emerald, Mercury, and Cinder. 

_Yangarang: think shes gonna give u the other pistol talk?_

Yang sat up, stretching her arms over her head. She'd left the prosthetic off for the night, and twisted over to grab it. Instead of attaching it right away, she looked at it.

It wasn't a bad piece. She'd be dead if she only had one arm, and that wasn't counting how much easier it makes her life. Even if she couldn't fight with it, she figured she'd eventually get one just so she could do stuff the way she was used to before. Washing her hair, getting dressed-- before she lost an arm, she didn't appreciate how easy she had it. Yang clicked it into place, thoughtful.

_Blakey: If she thinks she can one-up Taiyang, she's wrong._

Yang frowned down at her scroll.

_Yangarang: u ever gonna tell me what happened?  
Blakey: One day. We're here, I'll message you later._

The corner of Yang's eye twitched. She didn't like that Blake teased at what happened with her dad, then danced away from it. Yang could make herself not ask, since neither one of them seemed to want to talk about it, but if Blake could just not remind her of it, that would be great.

Yang blew air out through her cheeks.

_Yangarang: what r u up to rubes?_  
Rubes: Out in the city with Nora!  
Rubes: There are these crazy acrobats doing flips and stuff! 

Yang chuckled. She was sure she'd be getting pictures pretty soon. She tapped out a message to Weiss, figuring she may as well check on her, too.

_Yangarang: am I gonna get my gf back in one piece?  
Weiss Cream: Yes, and I daresay you'll be glad I borrowed her._

Yang squinted down at her phone.

_Yangarang: I dont believe u_

Weiss didn't reply. Yang wasn't surprised.

She rolled onto her back on the bed, looking up at the ceiling. It wasn't like she needed Blake to find stuff to do, but she did need someone to go out into the city. The buddy system cramped her style when Blake wasn't around, but she got why they were doing it. Yang huffed a little, then remembered that this hotel had an attached gym.

"Aw, yeah," she grinned. "Time to go show up some scrubs."

[*]

_Blakey: I didn't get any solid information, but I have a followup interview in three days with the Headmaster. I should be able to ask questions then._

Yang rolled her head on her shoulders. The scrubs had been amazed, of course. Somehow everyone paid attention to the fact that she was a girl in the gym, and ignored that she had definition like woah. It made it funny when she outlifted the dudebros who were trying to correct her form. Now, though, she didn't have much to do.

Ruby sent more pictures, and an idea struck Yang. She rang up Jaune, who she knew had just gotten back.

"Hey, Jaune, you busy?" She grinned. "I got a plan I think you're gonna like."


	45. Secretist Secret Plans

Jaune was down with the plan, and up for keeping a secret.

"I'm surprised you asked me," he said when she met him in the lobby. "We're not, y'know, close or anything."

Yang shrugged. She could tell him the truth, which was that everyone else was either busy or would probably spill the beans, but she wasn't trying to be a dick to him.

"You've got a bunch of sisters, right?" She asked, remembering prom. "So you know how to keep a secret."

He blinked. "I can't believe you remember that."

Yang threw her arm over Jaune's shoulder, catching him in a headlock. She had to jump up a little to do it, but she got him. He flailed, but let her haul him toward the front door.

"Oh, Jaune," she sighed, flexing a little so he'd feel her bicep against his neck, "I remember _everything_." 

She promised Ruby she would be less scary, but that didn't mean she couldn't go for a quick reminder that she might be shorter than Jaune, but she was definitely stronger than him. Jaune gulped, and she grinned. Message received.

Jaune didn't ask any questions on their way through Mistral. Yang strutted down the streets with her fingers interlaced behind her head, and he walked along at her side, tall and blond and quiet. She knew he hadn't always been this quiet, but Beacon's fall had changed him. It had changed them all. Silence wasn't always the enemy.

On their way to the first stop of the day, Yang's scroll chirped.

_Blakey: Weiss kidnapped me for a makeover._

Yang snickered. Jaune twitched.

_Yangarang: I think she likes dressing ppl  
Blakey: In another life, Weiss Schnee and Coco Adel teamed up to be terrifying Huntresses/fashion designers._

They arrived at the shop, a little mom-and-pop grocery store, and Yang fired off a quick text to Weiss.

_Yangarang: hey can we have a team meeting tonight? and can I borrow ur kitchen b4 it?_

She didn't get a response right away, but she didn't expect one. Weiss was probably comparing almost-identical shades of Blake's dark purple, if their trip was going anything like the one Yang had gone on with her.

"Hey, so..." Jaune rubbed the back of his head as they walked through the aisles. "I get what we're doing, but not why?"

Yang grinned. "Well, I figure we've all missed a birthday, right? And most of us have been on the road: you RNJR guys, Blake, Weiss. So... why not make a birthday dinner for everybody?"

Jaune made a thoughtful noise in the back of his throat, but didn't reply.

They got through the first store pretty easy. Jaune was surprisingly good at just letting Yang talk to the shopkeeper, batting her eyelashes and smiling. She figured he'd step up if she needed him to. Right now she just needed him to, how did he put it earlier with Blake? Stand there and look pretty? Yeah, that. He wasn't her kind of pretty, but he definitely had the just standing there part down.

"What about you?" Jaune asked on their way out.

Yang tilted her head at him, adjusting the bag hanging from her arm. "What about me?"

"You turned eighteen too, right? What are you making for you?"

Her scroll vibrated, distracting her from the question.

_Weiss Cream: Yes, you may. If you leave a mess, I will take it out of your hide.  
Yangarang: kinky. ur gonna have to ask Blake first_

When she looked up, Jaune was still looking at her, waiting for an answer.

"I'll have some of everything," she shrugged. She tucked in the corner of her mouth. "Are you... worried about me eating? 'Cause I eat a lot, Jaune. Like, a lot."

He shook his head. "No, I wasn't." A pause, then, "What's next?"

She didn't have a lot of money, but she didn't need it for this. All she needed was some basics: eggs, milk, flour, sugar. A few cuts of decent meat, some fish, some salt and pepper. One of the shopkeepers even let them move some crates to get some of their supplies, which Yang was totally okay with. She also had to get everyone's favorite foods, but Jaune knew the rest of his team's, and she knew RWBY's, of course.

"This is really nice of you," Jaune said quietly, after Yang had flirted a couple eggs out of a farmer who seemed happy to part with them.

"What, making food?" She wrapped the eggs up in a bit of spare cloth, tucking them away.

He nodded. "Yeah. I think we all needed something like this, but none of us thought of it."

Yang couldn't help but smile, touched. She nudged his shoulder with hers. "C'mon, we gotta get back before Weiss and Blake do, so I can hide this stuff."

"Aye aye."


	46. Families of Choice

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes, that is Blake's V4 outfit.

By the time Yang and Jaune got back (and Yang stashed the food), Nora and Ruby were hanging out in the JNR room. Ren reclined on one of the beds, looking on as Ruby and Nora shouted along to something on the television. Jaune sighed, smiling. Yang grinned.

Yang walked over to where Ruby and Nora were sitting. She scooped up her sister, lifting Ruby over her head. She cackled, watching Ruby flail. Yang then threw her over to the bed with Ren, aiming so Ruby wouldn't hit Ren.

Ruby narrowed her eyes. "You know this means war."

Yang smiled innocently. "Does it?"

Ruby lunged, and the epic battle began.

From what Yang saw of the rest of the room, Jaune settled in next to Ren, who moved close enough for their sides to press up against one another. They both looked amused, Ren shaking his head and Jaune chuckling. Nora... well, she just looked sad.

"What," Yang asked, getting Ruby in a headlock, "is the Queen of Thunder too scared to get a little rough?"

Nora's face lit up, and she joined the fray.

A little while later, someone knocked on the door. Yang looked up at just the right time to catch sight of Blake and Weiss, and her mind came crashing to a halt.

Blake looked... wow. Weiss had found her a white coat that flared out in the back, with a really nice shade of purple on the underside. The ribbons had disappeared from around her wrists, but the same theme showed up in her top, which was... really tight. And short. Not that Yang was complaining. And those boots. Black and thigh-length, Yang could admit she was already having thoughts about those boots.

Her partner chuckled. Weiss brushed past her, talking to Jaune and Ren about something, but Yang did not have enough brainpower to listen. Nora bounced over to the other bed, and Ruby squirmed out from Yang's arm.

Blake walked over, offering her a hand. Yang took it dazedly, and Blake pulled her up. Yang found herself pulled into a tight hug.

"Come take it off of me," Blake murmured into her ear, before letting her go.

Yang flushed. She glanced around the room to see if the others looked like they needed anything. Jaune, Ren, and Nora were having a conversation that involved a lot of eye rolling from Weiss and giggling from Nora. Ruby mouthed 'get it', and Yang couldn't help but laugh.

She turned back to Blake, nodding. The two of them slipped away.

By the time they got back to the room, Yang managed to remember that she had planned on cooking for everyone.

Not that Blake made remembering easy. As soon as the door shut, she turned to Yang, licking her lips. A shiver travelled down Yang's spine.

"Babe," Yang said weakly, struggling to keep her eyes on Blake's, "we've got a team meeting later...."

"Not for hours," Blake said reasonably, stepping closer. She started stroking her fingers through Yang's hair.

"I..." She turned into Blake's touch, trying to be strong. "I have to do something before it...."

Blake kept petting her, but didn't move closer. "How long do you need?"

"Um..." Yang somehow managed to figure out cooking times in her head. "Two hours?"

"Set an alarm," Blake said softly.

"I..." Yang laughed, shaking her head. "I am not gonna wanna get up."

Blake smiled. "I'll get up with you. Is that okay?"

Yang nodded. She trusted Blake to have more self-control about this than she did.

"Good," Blake murmured. "Now take this off of me."

Yang gladly obliged her.

[*]

On her way to Weiss and Ruby's room, Yang messaged Weiss:

_Yangarang: ur rite, I like the new clothes_  
_Weiss Cream: If they haven't managed to survive your interlude, I am going to be very displeased with you, Yang Xiao Long._  
_Yangarang: not sure what kinky shit u think we do, but theyre fine_

She knocked on the door to their room before Weiss could say anything back. A queasy-looking Ruby answered.

"Rubes?" Yang put the back of her hand to Ruby's forehead. She didn't feel like she was running a fever or anything.

Weiss scoffed from within the room. "She has developed a bad habit of reading my messages, which will teach her to be nosy, and you to send me such filth."

Yang raised an eyebrow. "Excuse me, you're the one who thought I might have wrecked Blake's clothes during our 'interlude'." She held up her hands to give the words air quotes. "All I did was tell you they were fine."

Ruby groaned, putting her face in her hands. Yang snaked an arm around Ruby's neck, the bags of food around her other wrist. Her new arm not feeling real pain was pretty nifty; she could hold as many bags on it as she could carry, not as many as made her fingers feel like they were being cut off.

"Whatcha got?" Ruby asked, sneaking her fingers into one of the bags. 

Yang turned her away, flicking her forehead. "Nope! You stay out of the kitchen."

Ruby turned puppy-dog eyes on her. "But Yang...."

"You'll get some of the food, but you're not stealing stuff out of the pan again," Yang said, nudging her sister away. She knew exactly how much in-progress food Ruby would filch if she could.

Ruby grumbled, but slunk off toward the television anyway.

Yang cracked her knuckles, and got to work.

After a few minutes, Weiss stepped up next to her. Yang raised an eyebrow, wondering if she was gonna have to give Weiss a 'stay out of the food' talk, too.

"You are not subtle, Yang," Weiss sniffed. "Tuna, rice noodles, and a frankly obscene amount of onions? And I may not be much for cooking for myself, but I know what potato pancakes are made from. You are not going to be able to make all this by yourself before the meeting, but the two of us might."

Yang smiled, and handed off the knife to Weiss. "Cut these the way I was." Weiss might not know how to cook, but she knew the other girl could figure out how to chop things. "And... thanks."

Weiss waved her free hand dismissively, and looked down at the counter with fierce concentration.

Between the two of them, they actually got done a few minutes before the meeting was supposed to start. Yang threw an arm around Weiss' shoulders, grinning down at the spread: pancakes for Nora, sashimi for Ren, tuna for Blake, rice noodles in broth for Ruby, onion soup for Jaune, and potato pancakes that Weiss was already eyeing. Weiss allowed Yang's arm to remain around her, leaning into her a little.

"You amaze me sometimes," Weiss admitted quietly. Yang felt happiness rise in her chest, and she brushed a kiss to the top of Weiss' head. Weiss shoved her away, making a face that was too dramatic to be real. "Not that much!"

Yang laughed, and didn't stop until everyone else had filtered in.

[*]

Everyone laid around the room in varying states of food coma. Yang hadn't stopped grinning the entire time. She'd gotten a hug from just about everyone, and they all seemed really happy about the food. For a few hours, they'd eaten, joked, told stories, and laughed.

"Yang," Weiss said seriously, standing. She had a package in her hands, one that Yang hadn't seen her get.

"Oh, is it time?" Ruby asked excitedly, sitting up from where she'd had her head on Nora's leg.

Weiss glared at her. "It _would _be, if you could let me finish!"__

__Ruby quieted down. Yang narrowed her eyes, looking from one to the other. Blake chuckled, and Yang turned her head to include her girlfriend in the suspicion._ _

__"Time for what?" Yang asked warily._ _

__"As you mentioned," Weiss said, not answering her question, "we all missed a birthday while we were apart. You... it was lovely that you made us all comfort foods. So we thought we should do something for you in return."_ _

__Yang shook her head. "Weiss--"_ _

__Weiss shoved the package into Yang's hands. "Do not fight us on this, you will lose."_ _

__Yang looked around the room. Everyone, even Nora, was giving her a look that said she would not win if she kept fighting. "But--" Every pair of eyes narrowed. She sighed. "Okay, okay. I really appreciate this, but you didn't have to!"_ _

__"Open it!" Ruby grinned._ _

__Yang peeled open the present, revealing--_ _

__"Woah," she breathed, holding up the gloves._ _

__They were _gorgeous_ : gold with black accents, with sturdy straps along the undersides to make them as tight or as loose as she wanted. She stroked her fingers over the leather, tracing the Xiao Long crest stitched into the tops._ _

__She looked up, feeling tears prick at her eyes. "These are..." Her throat closed around the words._ _

__"Riding gloves," Blake murmured into her ear. "For after all this, when you can take Bumblebee tearing down the streets again."_ _

__Yang tried to breathe normally, reaching up to dash away the tears with the heel of her left hand. "You guys...."_ _

__"You like 'em?" Nora asked nervously. "We all pitched in a little. Jaune told us what you were up to--"_ _

__"Ren suggested getting something for you in return," Weiss said._ _

__"I said probably gloves!" Ruby grinned._ _

__"Nora said you'd like your sigil on them," Ren told her._ _

__"Weiss bought them," Jaune said._ _

__"I..." Yang swallowed down the lump in her throat, managing a smile. "I really like them."_ _

__"Good," Weiss said, turning to her partner. "Now, _someone_ promised to help me clear the dishes."_ _

__Ruby froze. "I said that under duress."_ _

__Weiss snapped something about teaching her that word, and the rest of the room turned to watch the argument._ _

__Blake wrapped her arm around Yang's waist, squeezing her tight. Yang folded the gloves back into the wrapping paper, leaning her head against her girlfriend's and closing her eyes. Happiness thrummed in Yang's chest, so hot it nearly burned. Add in her dad and uncle, and she'd be surrounded by everyone she cared about. She'd meant it to feel a little like everyone else's birthday, but it felt like hers, too._ _

__Yang laughed under her breath. "And you distracted me while they put this together, didn't you?"_ _

__"It was a hard job," Blake said, laughter hidden in her voice, "but someone had to do it."_ _

__Yang cuddled in closer, and let her family's voices wash over her._ _


	47. Equivalent Exchange

"Hey," Yang said, after Nora, Jaune, and Ren had left and it was just RWBY left in the room, "how did your first interview go?"

Blake shook her head. "I didn't get any answers. The headmaster interviewed me personally, asked a lot of questions about my academics, about where I'd been since Beacon's fall."

"What did you tell him?" Ruby asked curiously.

"More or less the truth: I was working. It helps that I collected a few bounties under my own name."

"Bounties?" Yang asked, tilting her head.

"Grimm, usually," Blake said. She sounded normal, but Yang could feel the slight tensing of her leg and shoulder. Yang took her hand, interlacing their fingers, and Blake relaxed.

Nobody asked about the 'usually'. Instead, Weiss waved a hand. "And he evaded your questions?"

Blake nodded. "He's... a lot better at that than I am at getting answers out of people without them realizing what I want, or why I want it."

Weiss shook her head. "I'm not surprised. The upper class like to play their games."

"When's your second interview?" Ruby asked.

"Next week," Blake said. "They said to come prepared for combat."

"Do you still have the Dust rounds I gave you in Vacuo?" Weiss asked.

Blake nodded. "Enough to make a good showing if I have to."

The conversation dropped off after that. Weiss and Ruby started arguing over something they'd watched together. Weiss' eyerolls stayed affectionate, and Ruby didn't lock up, so Yang tuned them out. She turned to Blake, pressing their lips together firmly.

"Be careful, okay?"

Blake searched her eyes. "You're worried."

"Of course I'm worried," Yang said, stroking her thumb along Blake's knuckles. "If they make you fight the guy that gave Weiss her scar...."

Blake opened her mouth, then shut it. "I'l be careful." A beat. "I'm... not used to people worrying about me."

Yang kissed her again, cupping Blake's chin. "Well, I do. And so does everyone else."

"I know." Blake's eyes searched her face. "And I... appreciate it."

"Be careful," Yang said again, before dropping her hand from Blake's face.

_'I don't know what I'd do if I lost you.'_

[*]

They agreed not to go out that night. They curled up in bed together, Blake reading and Yang relaxing. Eventually their clothes ended up on the floor, and they fell asleep in a tangle.

The next day found them back out in the city, poking into the hidden places and tourist traps alike. There was a lot of Mistral left to explore, and so long as Blake seemed willing to come with her while she explored, Yang was happy to do it. They had to chase down leads to try finding Cinder and her group, but that didn't mean she couldn't have fun at the same time.

That night they ended up in a decent bar, one that served liquor Yang didn't recognize the names of. Dive bars and dance clubs were really more her thing, but those hadn't been helpful so far, and maybe one of the people she was looking for were into... whatever kind of booze shined honey-colored in low light.

They were just about to pack it in and go elsewhere when one of the patrons leaned over.

"I've seen your girl," he said softly.

Yang turned to him. She'd glanced at him when he first sat down, but pretty much ignored him after that. He just didn't _look_ like he'd be useful. He wore Atlesian-style whites and greys that said he was just as far from home as she was, and something about the way he kept his long-sleeved shirt and dress pants said 'military' to Yang, though she couldn't have said what. He even had the blue eyes and dark blond hair common to Atlesians. A soldier on vacation, she'd figured, the pistol at his hip confirming that thought. He looked like just another mid-twenties Atlesian out to have a drink that night. Useless to someone who needed information from Mistralis.

"Have you?" Yang asked, tilting her head to the side.

He made a small noise in the back of his throat, fingers touching the rim of his glass. He drank some of the honey-colored stuff, which smelled pretty good, actually. He turned to face her fully. "Yes. The heterochromatic girl."

Yang frowned at him. "Heterochromatic?"

"Her eyes are two different colors, and she has two different colors of hair, all of which appear natural. Heterochromia." He took a sip of his drink. "She's quiet, your girl. Smiles like there's a joke everyone else is missing, and it's a cruel one."

Yang glanced to Blake, who nodded. Yeah, that sounded like Neo.

"So, when did you see her?" Yang asked, trying not to sound too eager. This was the first real lead she'd had since they got to Mistral!

He sloshed around the ice cubes in his drink, looking down at it. "I'm going to need something in return."

Yang took a deep breath. Of course he did. "Depends on what you need."

"Two things," he said, "the first of which is: why do you want to find her?"

"We're going to have a nice little talk," Yang smiled. It wasn't a nice smile.

The Atlesian tilted his head from side to side. "I suppose that's close to an answer. Do you plan on her ending this talk in the same condition as she was when you began it?"

"What?" Yang stared at him. She wasn't going to hurt Neo to get her to talk; that was fucked up. "What kind of question is that? Do I really seem like that kind of person?"

He looked directly at her, eyes flat. "I wouldn't have thought you'd break someone's leg after you already won, dragon girl, but I was wrong."

Yang clenched her jaw. He knew who she was, then.

"We're working to clear her name," Blake said quietly. "And the person who is responsible for what you think you saw has ties to the girl we're looking for."

The Atlesian looked to Blake. His eyes flicked upward, and Yang balled her hands into fists. Instead of his face tightening, it loosened, and he nodded, dropping his gaze to her eyes.

"I think we had best discuss this away from prying ears. There are private tables in the back...?" He gestured toward the rear of the bar.

Yang looked to Blake, who tilted her head, leaving it up to Yang. She looked back at the Atlesian.

"What's your name?" She asked, studying his face.

"Silber," he said simply.

Silber looked... maybe not straight-forward, but honest. At least honest enough to deal with.

Yang nodded toward the back of the bar. "Lead the way."

[*]

"My husband comes from one of the tribes," Silber said, legs crossed and one hand on his drink. "When his grandfather passed, he honored him by making a totem. There are certain parties in Mistral who stole this totem, and have proven reluctant to return it."

Yang raised an eyebrow. "And you want two teenagers to get it back for you? Aren't you a soldier?"

"I am," Silber patted the pistol at his side, "and I could certainly retrieve it myself-- if I wished to be court-martialed afterward. I have little Aura to speak of, and to be certain I would walk away from the retrieval, I would have to bring certain members of my crew. The resultant confrontation would be very messy, and would gain attention; my Semblance is fairly distinctive, as are the Dust bullets I use. Aggressive action on Mistrali soil without prior authorization would be the end of my career, and I harbor no illusions about my immediate superior finding out in short order."

Yang nodded, but didn't ask after his Semblance. "So you want independents to do it for you."

He made a noise of agreement. "Even if you cannot do it without force, and someone finds out, who would be surprised to find Yang Xiao Long blew up a warehouse in Mistral?" Yang bristled, and he tapped his glass, continuing, "I believe that you believe you were framed. The world has many strange things in it; who am I to say it's impossible? You'll keep your word if you want information on this girl, and if you don't, I can risk being court-martialed later."

"Why do they want the totem?" Blake asked.

Silber snorted. "They are very insistent that I smuggle cargo into Atlas, and refuse to take either 'no' or 'that is patently impossible' for an answer."

"Smuggling isn't impossible," Blake frowned.

Silber took another sip of his drink. "When you transport the manner of cargo I do, allow me to assure you: it is quite impossible to bring onboard a single crate that isn't inspected down to the very fibers."

That sounded really weird to Yang, but it was none of her business. Probably weapons or something.

"And how do we know this is all legit?" Yang asked, crossing her arms over her chest.

"Is there a way for me to prove that?" Silber asked, raising an eyebrow. "The group who has my husband's totem are very clearly not tribal, and to the best of my knowledge, the practice is not widespread. I have a picture of him holding it, if that will assuage your conscience."

Yang nodded. "Let's see it."

The Atlesian pulled his scroll from a pocket, pulling up a picture. In it, Yang could clearly see Silber's arm wrapped around a younger man, who held a little bag in one hand. The bag had a wire cord making it into a necklace, and brightly-colored feathers hanging from the bottom.

"You're married to a faunus," Blake said, startled.

Yang looked closer at the other man. Sure enough, there were faint scales winding around his neck. A snake faunus, maybe.

"Yes," Silber said, sliding his scroll shut. "That is part of why I'm willing to trust you with this." His eyes flick from Blake to Yang. "Life can be difficult, when your ideal companionship doesn't look like what the world envisions."

Yang softened. She knew. They both did.

"We'll need to consult some people," Blake said, a little less wary.

"Consult as you must," Silber said, grabbing a napkin and a pen. He wrote down what Yang figured was his scroll number, and slid it across the table. "I can be reached at that number at any time of the day or night."

Yang stood, Blake rising to be at her side. "We'll let you know soon."

"I do hope so," Silber said, standing. He held out a hand, shaking first with Yang, then Blake. "Good hunting."

On their way back to the hotel, Blake frowned thoughtfully. "That was strange."

"Yeah," Yang agreed, "but it still sounded like it could be legit. You think Weiss might have heard of him? Or Winter?"

"It's worth asking," Blake said. "And your uncle is from the tribes, isn't he?"

Yang blinked, having completely forgot about that. "Yeah, he is. Maybe not the same ones, but he'd at least know if the guy is full of it."

"So in the morning," Blake said, "we start investigating."

"Yep," Yang agreed. She brushed her shoulder against her girlfriend's. "In the meantime, you should let me work on your back some more."

Blake smiled. "How could I say no to that?"


	48. Investigation

The next day, Yang and Blake invaded Weiss and Ruby's room. Ruby was out with Ren, Nora, and Jaune, leaving Yang and Blake to talk to Weiss without her.

"Hmm, Silber," Weiss said thoughtfully, after they explained the situation. "I haven't heard the name, but Winter may have. I'll ask her."

Yang had sent Qrow a message as soon as they woke up, not sure where he was or what time zone he was in. He slept right through his scroll buzzing when he actually did sleep, so she didn't worry about waking him.

Weiss called Winter. Yang wrapped an arm around Blake, her free hand playing with one of Blake's. Blake relaxed into her. Yang brushed her lips over Blake's temple, tuning out Weiss' conversation.

_Uncle Qrow: yeah there's some weird shit about totems and spirits and all that bullshit_  
Uncle Qrow: I never got into it  
Uncle Qrow: want me to ask somebody?  
Yangarang: no ty just needed to make sure someone wasnt a lying liar who lies. take care of my dog ok? 

And yourself, she meant, but her uncle never listened to that kind of thing.

Not long after she started the conversation, Weiss slid her scroll closed. "Winter has heard of him, and he has an honorable reputation. She also says he is very protective of his husband, which fits."

"Qrow says the totem thing is legit," Yang said. She lightly squeezed Blake. "What do you think?"

"It would be dangerous," Blake said slowly, thinking it out, "but I agree, he's probably telling the truth. And having a place to start with Neo could be helpful if the Haven angle doesn't work out."

"You'll take Nora or Jaune with you," Weiss said. It wasn't a question.

Yang thought that over. They were trying not to grab too much attention, but some backup could be good. They didn't have much experience fighting with anyone besides Ruby (who couldn't go for the same reason she couldn't go to Haven) or Weiss (who was still too recognizeable), but Yang knew she could work with either of those two, and Blake would adapt, too. As much as she'd rather have Nora, Jaune was less likely to wreck the place. He also didn't really have a temper, so if there was a way to talk these people out of the totem, they could do it.

"I'll ask Jaune," Yang said. Blake blinked at her. Yang shrugged. "Nora's Semblance is throwing lightning around, and she has a giant hammer. Ruby said Jaune's a good shot, right? So he can do long-distance support. We know how to work with a rifle backing us up."

"We do," Blake said, "I just expected you to ask Nora."

"Jaune is the logical choice," Weiss said.

Yang threw Weiss a grin for backing her up. "We're still trying to be a little bit on the low, right? So, no storms."

Blake leaned up to kiss her. "I agree."

_Yangarang: how long u gonna be in the city  
Vomit Boy: We're headed back. U need smthng?_

Yang frowned down at her phone, then changed Jaune's contact name.

_Yangarang: yeah hmu in ruby and weiss room when u get back  
Jaunedice: U got it_

When the rest of the team got back, Yang bounced to her feet, pulling Jaune to one side of the room. Jaune yelped. Blake followed, making a noise that Yang knew was her trying not to laugh.

"Um," he rubbed the back of his head, "am I in trouble?"

Yang shook her head. "I need a favor."

When they explained the situation, he nodded. "Of course I'll come." He managed to look at her from under his fringe even though he was taller than her. "I'm... not really sure why you want me instead of Ruby, though. She's the better shot, and you know how she fights."

"She's known by the people we're hunting," Blake said. "The rest of us might be mistaken for other people, but a sixteen year-old with a scythe... no matter what kind of clothes or makeup we put Ruby in, her weapon is distinctive."

"So's my Semblance," Yang said, "but if they were watching RNJR while they were in Vacuou, they'll know Blake and I weren't with them. If they see you, they might think you're Sun. You're both blond and tall, and hopefully nobody will get a good look at you."

"I mean, hopefully we won't have to fight at all," Jaune said.

Yang and Blake exchanged looks. Then, Yang said, "Yeah, that doesn't seem to be how it works, with RWBY."

Jaune sighed. "Yeah, RNJR either." He straightened up. "When do we leave?"

"I'll call Silber now," Yang said.

The Atlesian picked up on the second ring. "Dragon girl."

"Soldier boy," she said, crossing her free arm over her chest. "We talked about it, and we're gonna pick up your package for you. Just need to know where it is, and who's got it."

"Excellent," he said, and she could hear the relief in his voice. "The people you're looking for are the Blue Silk cartel, who have a series of warehouses out on the docks. The man who last had the package is named Gauze. I will send you a picture in a moment. If he no longer has the package, he may know where it's been moved."

"I'm sure he'll tell me," Yang shrugged.

Silber gave her an address, and a description of the warehouse. When they hung up, Yang grinned, rejoining the rest of the group.

"Got it." 

The others nodded, and Yang figured Weiss or Blake had probably filled them in.

"Tonight?" Blake asked.

Yang nodded. "Tonight."

"Guess I'll take a nap, then," Jaune said, heading toward the door.

"We should try for a nap, too," Blake said, a now-familiar look in her eye.

Yang grinned. "Definitely."

(A hint of worry tugged at her gut, but she shrugged it off. Even before Beacon, she hadn't worried about thugs. She was better now than she was then, she knew. They'd get through this. They had to.)


	49. Picking Up The Package

They did manage to get some sleep, after the other stuff.

At dusk, Yang and Blake knocked on the JNR room door. Jaune answered after a few seconds, tall and blond as ever.

"Alright," he said, closing the door behind him, "let's go."

It didn't take long to get to the warehouse. They got a couple weird looks on the way there, but Yang wasn't surprised; she and Blake were obviously hotter than burning, and Jaune was pretty tall. They all carried at least two weapons (Ember Celica counted as two!) but that wasn't too weird, in a city that housed a Hunter academy. Blake's new outfit got a lot of attention, and Yang had to catch herself a few times before she brushed her fingers across that tempting line of skin. Tonight was all business, as much as she wanted to carry Blake back to the hotel.

"This is the address," Yang said, squinting at it. Shady warehouse, check.

"I'll check it out," Blake said, disappearing after touching her hand to Yang's shoulder.

Yang jerked her head to a nearby streetlight. Jaune followed her over, and Yang leaned her shoulder against it.

"I forgot she's pretty much a ninja," Jaune said, his fingers tracing the pattern of his sword's hilt.

Yang grinned. "Yup."

When Blake got back, she looked thoughtful.

"I found Gauze, and he has the totem, but I don't think I could knock him out myself without using lethal force," Blake reported.

Yang frowned. "What's the setup?"

"Gauze was sitting in an office in the back, flicking through his scroll. There are six others scattered throughout the warehouse. Four playing cards, two making a half-hearted attempt at patrolling." Blake playfully raised an eyebrow at Yang. "Even with you jingling, we'll easily be able to avoid them."

"Still not a ninja," Yang said, resisting the urge to tap Blake's nose. Business. They were on business.

"I think..." The playfulness faded, and Blake frowned. "I think you could get him to give the totem up, if I can get you to the office without anyone seeing us."

Yang glanced at Jaune, who looked just as confused as she did.

"But you couldn't?" Jaune asked.

Blake nodded. "Yang... you're more obviously muscled than I am, and your gauntlets are more obviously shotguns than Gambol Shroud is a pistol. And..." She sighed. "No one inside looks faunus. If he's a racist, he's more likely to take you seriously than me."

Yang managed not to clench her jaw. They didn't have any proof the guy was a racist, she told herself. He could have faunus guys who just didn't have anything obvious going, or just not have any of them in the warehouse right now. Criminal didn't always mean asshole.

"What do you want me to do?" Jaune asked, rubbing the back of his head.

"If Yang wants to try getting Gauze to give up the totem?" Blake said, looking to Yang. She nodded. Blake continued, "You should watch the back entrance. It looks mostly unused, so if anyone tries to go into it, draw their attention away. There's a good perch in a building right across the way, and you should have more than enough time to get out if you have to fire a couple warning shots."

Jaune nodded, pulling Milo off of his back.

Yang took a deep breath. "Alright. Blake, lead the way."

[*]

They gave Jaune a few minutes to get into position, then crept into the warehouse.

Crates on crates on crates loomed over their heads, some open and some closed. The open ones had smaller crates inside, barrels, or sometimes cases that looked like the one Weiss had used to carry all the ammunition she'd given out in Vacuo. Weapons smuggling, Yang thought.

Blake slowly led her through the maze, shoulders tight and ears alert. Yang kept her eyes half on Blake, and half on the warehouse around them. She knew she was already hopelessly lost, and that Blake had better hearing than she did. In a maze like this, Yang's senses weren't all that useful.

They reached a door in what was probably an actual wall, and not a crate with ambitions. Blake set a hand on the door handle, then turned to her. Her partner gestured her closer. Yang moved in.

"I'll be listening," Blake whispered into her ear, barely loud enough to hear. A shiver wound down Yang's spine, and she reminded herself that now was not the time. "Be careful."

When Blake pulled back, Yang nodded. She reached out to brush her fingertips over Blake's cheek. She wanted badly to kiss her, but knew they couldn't lose focus. Blake softened, smiling. 

Yang dropped her hand, then took a deep breath. Blake opened the door, and Yang walked in.

The office was small, cramped, smelled like weed and sweat and only had two pieces of furniture: a messy desk, and an office chair. An office chair that currently had a slumped-over meaty-looking guy in it, flipping through his scroll. He definitely matched the picture Silber had sent, and definitely did not look up when Yang came in.

"What do you want, John?" Gauze asked, sounding bored.

"I want you to face the wall and not make any sudden moves, Gauzy-boy," Yang told him, clicking Ember Celica into place and pointing one arm at him.

Gauze's head jerked up. His eyes scraped up to hers, then down to her arm. She held up the other to let him see the underside of her gauntlet, where the shells were stored. Understanding hardened his eyes.

"I don't know what the fuck you're after, but you'll never get out of here with it," Gauze growled.

Adrenaline rushed through Yang's body, and she couldn't help but bare her teeth in something that was not a smile. She knew how this went. She knew how to play this game, even if it had been over a year since she played it.

"I told you," Yang said, fake-chipper. "I want you to _face the wall _." She lowered her other arm to point that at him, too. "Oh, but first throw your scroll over here. Slowly."__

__Gritting his teeth, Gauze tossed the scroll toward her. She took a step forward, eyes still on him, and crushed it under her boot. He snarled, and she shook her head warningly. She didn't know if he had Aura, so it was more or less an empty threat, but she could still punch him in the head._ _

__His nostrils flared, but he turned the chair to face the wall. She nodded, satisfied, and let her eyes wander the room._ _

__Junk, junk, pile of money, skin mag-- totem. She was tempted to take the pile of money, too, but the totem was what she came for. Yang side-stepped over to the desk, and slid the totem into one of her pouches._ _

__"I'll fucking kill you, kid," Gauze threatened._ _

__"Naw," Yang said, backing up toward the door. "If you were good enough to kill me, I wouldn't have caught you with your pants down. Now, be a good boy and stay there while I make sure this is what I came for, huh?"_ _

__She already knew the totem was what she needed, but this might buy her a little time. She backed out of the door, turning to where Blake had been._ _

__The other woman stepped out from behind the door, closing it and wedging it shut with a plank of wood._ _

__"He won't be getting out for a while," Blake said, sounding satisfied. "You got the totem?"_ _

__Yang nodded. "Yeah. Let's get out of here."_ _

__They went out a little faster than they went in. It wouldn't take Gauze more than a few minutes to get out of the office if he thought to just slam his weight against the door, or if any of the lazy guards patrolled close enough to hear him shouting. Yang kept waiting to hear the sounds of someone calling the alarm, or of Jaune firing Milo, but nothing came. They made it out the back door without anyone trying to stop them, and Yang breathed out heavy when they got to the street._ _

__Yang messaged Jaune to make sure he knew they got out safe, and to meet them as soon as he could. She turned to say something to Blake, only to get cut off by lips on hers._ _

__The kiss was over as soon as it started, leaving Yang dizzy. She blinked a few times, trying to understand what just happened. Blake - standing close enough for kissing, which helped a little with Yang understanding the situation, but not enough - just calmly watched her._ _

__"Um," Yang said, when Blake didn't look like she was going to say anything. "I didn't know me ballbusting got you off."_ _

__Blake shook her head. "It doesn't. I'm just... happy we're out safe. And...."_ _

__Blake's dark eyes reminded Yang that she was still buzzing with energy, still flexing her fingers just to keep moving. She'd expected a fight, or a chase, or something, and to get nothing was... well, yeah, she totally understood why Blake's libido went from zero to one-hundred. If they weren't waiting on Jaune, Yang wasn't entirely sure she wouldn't pull Blake into some shadowy place and have as much of her way as Blake would go along with._ _

__"We should get Silber back the totem as soon as possible," Yang said. It wasn't a no. It really, really was not a no._ _

__"And then?" Blake asked, licking her lips._ _

__Yang reached out to lift Blake's chin, closing the distance between them. Blake breathed out, her eyes flicking down to Yang's mouth. The air between them just about hummed. Yang's skin felt too tight, and she felt her mouth go dry._ _

__"And then head back to the hotel," Yang murmured, "so I can bend you over the bathroom counter."_ _

__Blake swallowed. "Just the bathroom counter?"_ _

__Yang lunged, kissing her hard. Blake moaned into her mouth, fingers digging into Yang's arms. Yang pulled Blake closer. She wanted skin, wanted a surface to get Blake up against - any surface: a bed, a wall, a counter, even a table or desk would do - and make her choke out Yang's name. Some part of her knew they were still out in the open, but that was only enough to make her not rip Blake's clothes off, not to get her to stop kissing her._ _

__After not nearly long enough, Blake jerked away, breathing hard._ _

__"Babe?"_ _

__"Jaune," Blake said, flicking her eyes to the side._ _

__A second later, tall, blond, and cockblocking walked out, Milo still in his hands. Jaune looked from Yang to Blake, then back. "Um. We good to go back?"_ _

__"Yeah," Yang said, not caring that her voice dropped low. "We're good."_ _

__[*]_ _

__On the way back, Yang called Silber._ _

__"We've got the package, soldier boy," she said, stretching her free arm over her head. "When do you want a delivery?"_ _

__"If you're feeling generous," Silber replied, "I can be found where we met."_ _

__Yang looked to Blake and Jaune, covering the microphone of her scroll. "Silber wants us to take him the totem. He's at that bar."_ _

__Jaune shrugged. Blake nodded._ _

__Yang uncovered the microphone. "We'll be there."_ _

__"Excellent."_ _


	50. Delivery

Silber had the same honey-colored booze in his glass when they got to the bar. Yang dropped down onto the stool next to him, pulling out the totem.

His eyes lit up, and he reached out for it. Yang considered keeping it until he delivered, but she couldn't make herself be that mean. Besides, if he was a dick about it, she could take him. Weirdly ominous-sounding Semblance or not.

He rolled the little leather bag in his fingers, then tucked it into a pocket. "Thank you."

She nodded. "Don't worry about it." Blake slid onto the stool next to her, and Jaune sat on Blake's other side. "So... you wanna tell us what's up with the girl?"

Silber nodded, taking another sip of his drink. "I investigated her a little myself. I'll message you the information."

"Nice doing business with you, soldier boy," Yang told him, slipping off of the stool.

She left, and Jaune and Blake followed.

"Is it just me," Jaune said, rubbing the back of his head, "or did that feel too easy?"

Blake shook her head, frowning. "It's not just you."

On their way back, Yang's scroll chirped. She opened it to find an address, and a couple of sightings. There was even a picture. Neo looked as punchably smug as ever, walking out of an apartment building with her umbrella by her side.

_Silber: Your girl has been stationary for the past few days, so far as I can tell. This is the address of the building she's staying in. Good hunting, dragon girl. ___

__Yang grinned, sliding it shut. "He found where she's staying."_ _

__"We should go soon," Blake said, "in case she moves."_ _

__Jaune nodded. "Tomorrow night?"_ _

__"Yeah," Yang said, already looking forward to it, "definitely tomorrow night."_ _

__[*]_ _

__They split up when they got back to the hotel; Jaune to the JNR room to fill them in, and Yang and Blake to Ruby and Weiss' room._ _

__"Good," Ruby said, after they'd told her the story. "We can finally go after her."_ _

__Yang eyed her younger sister. That... didn't sound like any Ruby she'd ever heard. That sounded grim, almost bloodthirsty. Yang knew Neopolitan had sided with Roman and Cinder, who had been responsible for all the death and destruction, but she didn't know it had affected Ruby that way. They should... now that she thought about it, they should really talk about all that._ _

__(She'd have to talk about losing her arm, but she'd do that if it meant helping Ruby.)_ _

__"We can discuss plans in the morning," Weiss suggested, hiding a yawn. Yang blinked, then remembered that it was kinda late for people who got up in the morning._ _

__"Sure," Yang shrugged. She and Blake would probably be awake for a while longer; they were usually awake until it turned back around to AM._ _

__When they got back to the room, Blake touched her arm as soon as the door shut. "Yang."_ _

__"Babe?" Yang turned around, not liking the hesitance in Blake's voice._ _

__Her girlfriend's eyes flicked between hers. "When we approach Neo... it should be Ren and I."_ _

__Yang frowned. "What? Why?"_ _

__"We're stealthier," Blake said slowly, still watching her. "And if we can't subdue her without a fight, Ren's style is better suited to fighting her."_ _

__Yang's shoulders slumped. "This is about me losing last time to her, isn't it?"_ _

__Blake didn't answer for a few seconds. Then, warily, "I think Ren and I will have a better chance. You said you lost last time because it was in cramped quarters, where you couldn't activate your Semblance. This is the same situation."_ _

__Yang took a deep breath. She knew what Blake said made sense. But without deciding to, she'd started wanting that rematch with Neo. She was better now, she knew she was. She was not just stronger, but she'd also been blending her style with Mercury's. Yang closed her eyes. No, she knew better. Neo outclassed her last time. If she still couldn't use her Semblance because they'd be going for her inside a building - one that could have anything in it, including innocent people - she didn't know if she'd win. She and Blake worked together, but they did the best when they had a lot of open space. With Ren's Aura-push unarmed style, he'd have a better chance against Neo than she would, and with Blake there, it might not even get to that point._ _

__"You're right," Yang said, reluctant to admit it. "It... should be you and Ren." Some of the tension drained from Blake's shoulders. "But... I want to be on backup. Jaune and I can wait down the street or something. If we hear a fight, we'll come in and see if we can help."_ _

__Blake nodded. "Alright."_ _

__Yang reached out, tugging Blake closer. She wrapped her arms around Blake's shoulders, soaking her in. Blake's hands came up to rest on her back. Yang held on until Blake relaxed into her. She pulled back a little, brushing their lips together. Blake jolted, and Yang frowned._ _

__"Blake?"_ _

__Blake searched her face. "You're... not mad?"_ _

__"I'm frustrated, but not with you," Yang said. "It's a good plan."_ _

__A few more seconds of amber eyes searching hers, then Blake leaned up and kissed her. Yang gladly kissed her back, stroking a hand down her spine._ _

__Light fingers on her stomach pushed her back towards the bed, and Yang sat down on the edge. Blake sat sideways on her lap, bringing her hands up to cup Yang's cheeks. Her mouth opened under Yang's, and they both shivered._ _

__"Hey, I know we talked about the bathroom counter and stuff," Yang said after a few more kisses, feeling heat prick her skin, "but I'm totally cool with just cuddling, if that's what you want?"_ _

__Blake stole another kiss, shifting closer. "I want you to touch me. If... if that's alright."_ _

__"Always," Yang whispered, pulling her down onto the bed._ _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We're closer to the end than the beginning. If you have something you'd like to see addressed, speak up either here or at my tumblr. There's a list [http://fallintolife.tumblr.com/post/158157083127/with-chapter-50-about-to-be-posted-enter-the]() here for anyone who wants to check to see what is already definitely going to be resolved.


	51. Calm Before The Storm

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> More smut in this one. If you do not wish to read it, skip the rest of the chapter after, "You promised me something about a bathroom counter". As before, there's a list of acts committed in the end chapter notes.

They all ended up in Ruby and Weiss' room earlier than Yang really wanted to get up, but probably later than Weiss wanted to start her day. Whatever, she could cope. The hotel had decent coffee, and nobody minded that she was devouring a couple muffins instead of saying anything while they talked about Neo.

"So, what, we're just gonna sit back at the hotel while you guys grab her?" Ruby asked, crossing her arms over her chest.

"No," Weiss said sharply. "You and I are going to get coffee at a nearby cafe. Nora, conveniently, is going to be at a shop not far from ours. In the unlikely event Neopolitan gets the better of Ren, Blake, Jaune, and Yang, we will be close enough to intervene."

Ruby groaned. "I hate just sitting around!"

Nora wrapped an arm around her shoulders. "Me, too. But too many people fighting one girl isn't really gonna help."

Sighing, Ruby leaned into Nora. "I know."

Yang frowned. She hated that Ruby was unhappy, but there just hadn't been anything for her to do in Mistral. As much as it sucked, the closer they got to Cinder, the less they could risk tipping her off. Whatever Ruby had done on top of that tower had stopped Cinder from destroying the rest of Vale, after she'd won against both Ozpin and Pyrrha. They was no way Cinder wouldn't want to go for her if she knew Ruby was around. 

If Cinder was in Mistral. Which... at this point, if she wasn't in Mistral, Yang didn't even know where she'd be. She wasn't in what was left of Vale, RNJR had already looked in Vacuo. Atlas was a possibility, she guessed, but it would be a stupid idea to be there. Between Ironwood, Winter, and Weiss, there couldn't be anywhere safe for Cinder to be in Atlas, now that they all knew what she looked like. So if Mistral turned out to be a bust, Yang didn't know what they'd do next. She shrugged off those thoughts. They had a lead on Neo, and they'd deal with what came next after that.

"Tonight, then," Weiss said. "Preferably as soon after nightfall as possible."

Yang rolled her eyes, but agreed. Nighttime was definitely better for this kind of thing, but most of their group wasn't used to running around at midnight.

The meeting broke up, and Yang and Blake headed back to their room. Yang figured she'd change into workout clothes and head back to the gym, only to look up from her bag to see Blake giving her a look that sent a shiver down her spine.

"You promised me something about a bathroom counter," Blake murmured.

Yang let out a shuddering breath, dropping her bag. "I did."

Blake didn't respond, just kept watching her. Amber eyes drifted down her body, then back up. Blake licked her lips, her eyes going dark.

Yang stood up, pulling Blake closer. Her girlfriend came easily, fingers seeking skin. On impulse, Yang crouched, her hands coming in under Blake's thighs. She lifted her, Blake's legs wrapping around her hips immediately. When Yang pulled back a little, Blake's eyes were wide and hungry. Blake lunged toward her, biting into Yang's lower lip.

Somehow, Yang got them into the bathroom, and set Blake down on the counter. Blake kept her knees around Yang's hips, her nails raking down the skin of her stomach. Yang moaned into her mouth, fumbling with Blake's coat.

They managed to get naked down to the waist, and Blake let her go long enough for Yang to get her pants off. As they fell to the floor, Blake squirmed out of her own pants, letting them drop. Yang got on her knees, pressing her lips to Blake's calves, the inside of her knees. She dragged her tongue along Blake's inner thigh, Blake trembling.

Yang moved further inward, getting her mouth right up against the damp fabric. She licked Blake right through her panties, moaning at the taste. Blake's hips jerked forward. Yang licked her again, then stood up. Blake made a noise of protest, eyes betrayed.

Grinning, Yang picked Blake up again, turning her over. Blake whimpered.

"Guess I'm not the only one who likes being thrown around?" Yang whispered into her ear, pressing her front against Blake's back.

"I don't think me throwing you around with Gambol Shroud makes you want to fuck me," Blake murmured, reaching up to cup the back of Yang's neck.

Yang laughed, gently pulling Blake's hair to one side so she could kiss her shoulder. She caught a glimpse of them in the bathroom mirror, and came to a halt.

They made... a really good picture. Blake was flushed from her cheeks all the way down to her tits, her eyes unfocused and dark. Yang framed her, just a little bit bigger and more muscular. Her eyes travelled down Blake's body, ending where her hands rested on either side of Blake.

"Yang?" Blake turned to look over her shoulder.

"Look," Yang pointed towards the mirror with her chin.

Blake turned back, her eyes flitting over the reflection. "Yes, we're very pretty," Blake said, a laugh in her voice, "now get those pretty fingers inside me."

Lightning shot down Yang's spine, ending in heat between her legs. She trailed her hand down Blake's stomach, coming around her hip to squeeze her ass. "You always talk dirty when you're bent over things?"

Blake shifted to kiss her, biting Yang's lip pointedly. "Maybe I thought it would get you to go faster." She sucked on Yang's lower lip. "If it's not working, I can stop."

"No, I like it," Yang said. She traced the border of Blake's panties. "On or off?"

"On," Blake said, turning to meet her eyes in the reflection.

Yang slid her hand inside Blake's panties, moaning softly when she found wetness almost immediately. Blake sighed, her eyes going half-lidded. Yang slipped a finger inside her. She was so wet, hot and already clenching down around her. Yang added another finger, and Blake whispered her name. Both their eyes dropped to where Yang's fingers shifted in and out of her, a thin layer of black fabric covering them. Blake's hand dropped to dig nails into Yang's wrist, and her hips jerked against Blake's, mouth going dry.

Blake egged her on, whispering _more_ and _harder_ , snapping her hips into Yang's hand. She dragged her nails down Yang's forearm, panting, and when Yang added a third finger, she threw her head back with a loud groan. Yang finally pushed her forward, pulling her fingers out and moving her hand to thrust into Blake from behind. Blake braced one hand on the mirror, letting out a whine. Yang pressed open-mouthed kisses against her neck, her shoulder, her jaw. Blake's breathing got more ragged, her fingers curling into a fist.

"Bite me," Blake begged, forehead coming to rest against the glass.

"What?" Yang lost the rhythm for a few seconds, not sure she'd heard her right.

" _Bite me_ ," Blake repeated, her voice breaking. "Hard."

Yang sank her teeth into Blake's shoulder. Blake cried out, her walls pulsing around Yang's fingers. Dazed, Yang kept moving, guiding her through it.

Trembling, Blake reached back to gently pull Yang's hand away. She just about collapsed onto the counter, and Yang carefully wrapped herself around Blake, keeping her steady.

"That's gonna leave a mark if you don't heal it," Yang said quietly, when Blake managed to catch her breath. The mark already gleamed red in the low bathroom light, and Yang knew it would bruise if Blake let it.

Blake turned around, stealing a kiss. "Good."

Yang kissed the tip of Blake's nose. "Good? So... is that something I should do more of?"

Running her hands up Yang's back, Blake tilted her head. "I don't know, yet." She chuckled. "Ask again when I can think straight."

"Can you ever think _straight_?" Yang teased, brushing back a piece of hair from Blake's face.

"Not around you," Blake said, kissing the underside of her jaw. "Around you, I end up thinking about doing this even when I shouldn't."

Yang hummed, enjoying Blake's mouth on her skin. "Yeah?"

Blake made a small 'yes' noise in the back of her throat, then switched their positions, getting Yang up against the counter. She dropped to her knees, biting Yang's hip. "Yes. Now spread your legs so I can show you what I've been thinking."

Yang swallowed down a moan, and did exactly that.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> List of acts committed: rough sex, vaginal fingering, oral sex, biting hard enough to leave marks, light dirty talk.


	52. Preparations II

They eventually got in the actual shower.

Yang disconnected her arm and left it on the counter, stepping under the spray. Blake moved in behind her, wrapping her arms around Yang's waist. They relaxed in the steam and hot water.

"I love you," Blake murmured against her neck. 

Yang turned around to face her, settling her arms on Blake's shoulders. She hesitated a little before including her right arm, still not entirely comfortable with the stump. Blake turned her head to kiss the inside of Yang's upper right arm. Yang jerked, but didn't drop her arms.

"All of you," Blake said firmly. Yang flushed, dropping her eyes. Blake's hand on her chin gently pulled it back up. "All of you, Yang. You... you lost your arm to protect me. How could I ever find that anything but beautiful?"

Yang breathed out, feeling tears prick at her eyes. She tried to blink them back. "I-I know. I do. I'm just... working on it for me."

Blake gently kissed her, then tapped her hip. "Turn around so I can wash your back."

Yang turned. Gentle hands scrubbed her back. Yang closed her eyes. She could feel a few tears slip down her cheeks, but ignored them. When Blake moved onto her legs, Yang didn't say a word. She let Blake get her front, too, and her left arm. Blake paused then, searching her face.

"Yang?"

Yang wanted to let her do this. She trusted Blake, trusted her with everything she had and everything she was. But the thought of Blake touching her there, even for a few seconds, made her skin crawl. She could usually get past it when they had sex, but even when they slept or cuddled, Yang used her left side as much as possible. She knew Blake knew. But... but Blake loved her anyway. She'd understand.

Leaning in to kiss her, Yang took the cloth. "I'll get it. Then... can I do you?"

Blake smiled. "Of course."

When they got out, Yang left her arm off, setting it on the nightstand next to her gauntlets. The two of them curled up in bed for a while, this time with Blake against the headboard and Yang resting her head on Blake's thigh. Blake's fingers moved through her hair, and Yang fell into the warm place between sleep and being awake.

"What're you reading?" Yang asked, wrapping her arm around Blake's leg.

Blake cleared her throat. Yang was pretty sure she was blushing. Her lips curved into a smile, and she held back a laugh.

"Ever since we became... physically intimate..." Yang wondered how Blake could go from telling Yang how to fuck her, to blushing about mentioning them having sex, in less than an hour. "...I've been reading more... directly applicable material."

It took Yang a second to sort through that, but when she did, she couldn't help but laugh. "I knew it," she breathed, "I knew all your books were filthy."

Blake gently tugged on a lock of her hair. "It's not! It's just romance. Lesbian romance. With some... very well-written intimate scenes."

"I'm not judging you, babe," Yang said, pressing a kiss to Blake's leg. "Find anything good so far?"

"That thing I did the other night? That made you almost pass out?"

Yang shivered. Oh yes. She remembered.

"I found that in the book before this one." Blake's voice had a laugh in it, and Yang was sure she'd picked up on the shiver.

"I mean, if it's for research..." Yang grinned, rolling onto her back to look at her girlfriend upside-down. "You can experiment on me, babe." She winked, startling a laugh out of Blake.

"What was it Weiss said?" Blake asked, fond. "'Utterly ridiculous'?"

"But you _love_ me." Yang drew the word out, wriggling in place.

"I do," Blake said, a soft smile spreading across her face.

Warmth spread out from Yang's chest. She grabbed Blake's hand, kissing the inside of her wrist. "You should read me your filthy, filthy--" Blake's finger tapped her nose, and Yang corrected herself with a laugh. "--fine, your mushy, _well-written_ romance."

Blake shook her head, still smiling. "You sure? This chapter doesn't have any sex in it."

Yang nodded, closing her eyes. "I'm a patient woman."

Blake snorted, but began to read anyway: "'Yuri knew today was the day. Today, she would tell Sakura she loved her.'"

[*]

Yang didn't end up going down to the gym, but she didn't mind. She figured she'd gotten enough exercise earlier, and might get more that night. If everything went well with Neo, she'd just go for a run or something.

She and Jaune headed out after Blake and Ren. She'd already gotten Blake up against the elevator door, kissing her hard, but Yang still itched to go with her, to watch her back.

"It sucks, doesn't it?" Jaune asked quietly, as they watched them go. "Knowing they're with someone you trust, but isn't you?"

Yang blinked at him, startled. Yeah, she... guessed he would understand that, wouldn't he? Going by her and Nora's talk, Jaune and Ren weren't her and Blake, but they were still close, still teammates. She knew Ren was a good fighter, and Jaune knew Blake was good at what she did, but it didn't stop all the worrying. It just left the stuff that didn't make any sense, that said everything would be better off if they switched, even though they'd all agreed to the plan.

"Yeah," Yang agreed, "it does. But... they'll be fine. And we'll be nearby if anything happens."

Jaune's smile said he wasn't buying it, but he didn't say anything. She took a deep breath, and led the way.


	53. Rematch

Yang watched Jaune squint at the apartment building in front of them.

"It feels like we should be in a bad part of town," he muttered, sitting down on a bench.

Yang shrugged. "She was the right-hand woman to a criminal who had the connections and guys to toss every Dust seller and shipment going through Vale for six months. After he died, she probably knew where a couple of his stashes were. With that kind of money, she could buy a whole block of the decent part of town. I'm surprised she didn't just buy her entire floor."

The neighborhood around them was decent. Not high-class, but not the slum Jaune seemed like he expected. Good enough that Yang wouldn't worry about leaving her door unlocked while she was home, not so great she'd leave it unlocked if she went on vacation.

"How do you know all this, anyway?" Jaune asked. Yang sat down next to him, and he squinted at her. "I mean, not the apartment thing, but... everything about shady stuff."

Yang flicked her fingers. "I poked around before I went to Beacon. I was looking for someone."

Jaune nodded slowly. "Probably not good to talk about while we're supposed to be on watch, huh?

_'Not good to talk about ever,'_ Yang thought to herself, but she nodded along with him. "The poking around was fine, but the reason... yeah, not a fun story."

Jaune leaned back on the bench. "Is that how you ended up blowing up a club?"

Yang giggled. "Ruby told you about that, huh?" Jaune nodded, and Yang grinned. "Let me tell you the _real_ story."

She had just gotten to the part with the bear-head DJ when they both heard the _crack_ of gunfire. Either StormFlower or Gambol Shroud; they both had the same report.

Yang got on her feet in an instant, Jaune standing a second later. Before either of them could move, they could hear shattering glass, and a green-and-black blur hurtled out of one of the fourth floor windows. Ren hit the ground with a thump that Yang could almost feel in the soles of her feet. They sprinted over to him.

"I'm fine," he coughed, rolling onto his front. "Go help Blake."

He didn't have to tell Yang twice.

It was hard not to call on her Semblance, hard to control the bubbling rage below the skin as she ran for the apartment building. Every second was another one where anything could be happening to Blake, where Neo could be-- Yang swallowed that thought down. Blake was strong, and she knew how to run if something turned out to be too much for her.

Yang leaped, metal arm catching hold of a fire escape handrail. She lifted herself upward, firing Ember Celica to help propel her toward third floor. She caught another handrail, flipping onto the fire escape. "Blake?!"

"Yang!" The call came from further inside, and Yang hopped inside the window Ren had come from.

Inside was a trashed apartment, and it soothed a little of Yang's anger to see nothing but mess. She could tell there used to be a couch or something, a couple chairs, and a table, but it was all either broken or shredded. In the middle stood Neopolitan, that damned umbrella in her hand and a smirk on her face. Blake stood in front of her, snarling, with Gambol Shroud held at the ready.

Neo turned her head to look at Yang, making the heart symbol with her hands still on the umbrella's handle. Yang growled. Neo winked.

"Is Ren okay?" Blake asked, eyes still on Neo.

"Just winded," Yang said, clenching and unclenching her fists. "Jaune's got him."

Neo twirled her umbrella, still smirking. Yang gritted her teeth. "Ready, Blake?"

Blake nodded. Without another word, they lunged for the girl.

Yang went for a low punch, Blake thrusted Gambol Shroud high. Neo jumped out of Yang's way, metal ringing out at she deflected Blake's katana. Wood crunched as Yang stepped in closer, Neo easily dodging her roundhouse kick. The girl used the hook of her umbrella to catch Blake's sword, pulling her in and into the path of Yang's next punch. She pulled back early, not wanting to hurt Blake. Neo tossed Blake to the side, punching Yang hard in the gut. The wind wheezed out of her lungs. Without any conscious control over it, Yang curled protectively over her stomach.

The sharp tip of an umbrella pointed toward Yang's face, only to be deflected by Blake's blade. Neo bent at the waist, hands coming down to brace behind her. Blake stabbed downward. Gambol Shroud met air as Neo twisted fluidly out of the way. By the time Yang recovered, Neo had regained her footing in the center of the room. Yang snarled. This wasn't working. Neo was just making a fool out of them.

Yang caught Blake's eye over Neo's shoulder, and took a deep breath. Being aggressive and letting Neo set the pace was how she'd lost last time. She purposefully stepped into one of Mercury's stances, signalling Blake that she was trying something different. Blake nodded.

Holding up a hand, Neo flicked her fingers toward her palm. Yang shook her head. Not this time. Neo opened her mouth in a silent laugh, and darted forward.

Yang deflected the first two kicks on the outside of her gauntlets. Then she snapped out her left leg to thrust the heel of her boot into Neo's ankle. The girl's eyes went wide, and she brought her other leg around to try recovering. Yang flipped back into one of Mercury's spin kicks. She hit Neo right in the side, launching her toward the ceiling. Neo pushed off of it, twisting to fall umbrella-first toward Yang. Gambol Shroud's ribbon snaked out, catching the handle of the umbrella and snatching it out of the air. 

Neo somehow turned to land just behind Yang, coming up into a mule kick. Yang caught hold of Neo's leg with her right hand. Neo tried to break out of the grip by jerking her weight toward the thumb, but Yang's prosthetic wasn't flesh-and-blood, it was unyielding metal. Yang brought her other hand to bear, and fired buckshot straight into Neo's knee.

The girl's Aura flared as it depleted, and she screamed. For a second, Mercury's terrified face showed in place of Neo's, and Yang let her go with a shudder. Blake stepped up, Gambol Shroud held at the ready. Yang bit the inside of her cheek to keep the memory at bay. He hadn't really been terrified, or in any pain at all.

Neo was in pain, though. She gritted her teeth, curled protectively around the joint. Tears leaked from the corner of her eyes, and Yang took a deep breath.

"Can you lift her?" Blake asked under her breath. She kept her head pointed toward Neo, but her eyes flicked sideways to Yang.

"Yeah," Yang said, kneeling down. Even if Neo wanted to leave, there was no way she was going to get far with a messed-up knee, so Yang wasn't really worried about having her that close. Yang could already see the joint starting to swell.

Neo whimpered when Yang picked her up, and she almost felt bad for her. Then she remembered that Neo had helped Roman and Cinder wreck Vale, and any potential sympathy drained right out of her. She wasn't going to hurt her any more than she had to, but she wasn't gonna feel bad for her, either.

"Guys?" Jaune came in through the ruined window. "Everything okay?"

Yang sighed, looking to Blake. She had been fine when Yang came in to help against Neo, and hadn't take any hits since. Blake nodded.

"We're fine," Yang said. She stood, Neo in her arms, and the girl made a low sound of pain. "Blake... could you grab her umbrella?"

Blake tilted her head, but picked it up. "You want to take it with us?"

Yang stepped over, getting a good look at it. Like she thought, it had a white handle now. It had definitely had a black one last time they fought. But Roman's cane had a white handle, and it also had a blade that extended from the tip, like Neo's umbrella did now. Yang would just as happily put Neo in jail for the rest of her life, but she wasn't going to leave her weapon for some street kid to abuse and discard. It wasn't right.

"Yeah," Yang said. "We can figure out what to do with it later."

She glanced down at Neo, and wanted nothing to do with the gratitude she saw lurking behind the pain. "C'mon. We've got another package to deliver."


	54. The Question of Neopolitan

The plan had been to turn Neo over to the police after they got what they needed out of her. They'd managed to get her into the hotel, into Weiss and Ruby's room, and tied to a chair, all just fine. The problem was:

"I think she's mute," Yang frowned.

"Or she's pretending," Weiss frowned, crossing her arms over her chest.

"No, I think Yang's right," Ruby said. "She didn't say a word the entire time we fought, and she took a picture to tell Roman I was there, instead of just calling him."

"Didn't you say she screamed when you shot her leg?" Nora asked.

Weiss shook her head. "As much as I hate to undermine my own assertation, there are levels of verbalization." Weiss paused, looking to the side as she thought something over. "She may have vocal cords capable of producing sound, but be mentally unable to speak."

Neo clicked her tongue twice, tilting her head. There was an icepack wrapped around her knee, courtesy of Yang. She still thought Neo should spend the rest of her life in jail, but Yang had already suffered through one injury that should have ended her career. There was only one person that she had ever wished that on, and now he was nothing more than a rotting corpse and a mask nailed to her wall.

Weiss narrowed her eyes, but didn't comment.

"Isn't there... some kinda hand language for deaf people?" Jaune asked. Neo clicked twice, again.

"We could have her shake her head yes or no," Ren suggested quietly. He'd been sitting on the touch since they got back, but seemed just tired and a little bruised. It didn't stop Nora from fussing, and he let her do it with a fondness that reminded Yang of the way Blake treated her sometimes.

"That won't work for complex questions," Blake said quietly.

Weiss sighed. "We're going to have to untie her hands." She glared at Neo. "Assuming she knows sign language?" Neo clicked again, and Weiss sighed even more heavily. "She's probably just saying that so we'll untie her, but between seven Hunters and a wounded knee, her chances of escaping are slim." Neo huffed and rolled her eyes. Weiss glared. "You don't get opinions on this." Neo looked at Weiss for a second, then rolled her eyes again, pointedly. Yang squished the amusement she felt at someone sassing Weiss. Neo was still a bad person.

"Um..." Ruby tilted her head. "Do any of us even know sign language?"

"If she speaks it," Weiss said, "I know someone who can interpret for us."

"Uh, someone in Mistral?" Yang asked.

Weiss shook her head. "The networks have been repaired sufficiently to allow for video conferencing."

Blake narrowed her eyes thoughtfully, but didn't say a word.

Yang moved to stand behind Neo, then knelt to untie her hands. Once the girl's hands were free, Yang rested her own hands on the back of Neo's chair. She didn't think Neo would fall for the same trick twice, but she wanted to give the girl a reminder that she had lost to just Yang and Blake, let alone five other people.

Neo raised her hands, and started slowly going through a series of signs that had Weiss rubbing the bridge of her nose.

"I speak _enough_ to know she's at least not faking that," Weiss grumped.

"But not enough to understand what we need?" Blake asked quietly.

Weiss shook her head. "No. I'm going to call my possible interpreter; I will be back."

She walked out into the hall. Yang looked to Blake, tilting her head.

"You know something?" Yang asked, mindful of the last time she asked Blake to tell her something she wasn't supposed to know.

"I suspect something," Blake said, turning to meet her eyes. "I'll tell you later. If I'm wrong, it won't matter."

Below her, Neo huffed out something that Yang was pretty sure was a laugh. The corner of Yang's eye twitched.

"Why'd you have to be a jerk?" Yang muttered. "We could've been friends."

Weirdly, Neo didn't answer.

Weiss came back with her scroll already on, broadcasting a call. Yang stared at the person on the screen.

"Neptune?!" She'd know that hair anywhere.

"Uh, hey?" He tossed off a sheepish salute.

Yang tilted her head. "Since when do you know sign language?"

He ran a hand through his hair, chuckling nervously. "My sister's deaf. We all learned it."

"Neptune," Weiss said, her voice gentler than Yang had ever heard her speak to anyone who wasn't on RWBY, "if you could help us?"

"Sure, sure," he said, sitting up straighter.

Yang didn't even pretend she wasn't staring at Weiss. Things clicked into place one bit at a time, and the picture was _crazy_. Weiss didn't _use_ that tone with people other than them. She barely used it with Yang, and only when they weren't driving each other crazy. So, basically never.

Oh, shit. Neptune was her 'correspondence'. Maybe not her only one - she said something about a business meeting - but she'd been keeping up with him. At least enough that she considered him close.

"Um... she says she's not deaf. So you can, y'know, talk to her directly. I'll just tell you what she says."

Yang blinked, then looked down at the scroll, and Neo. She'd missed something while she was busy staring at Weiss in _betrayal_. They were going to have a talk.

Blake stepped up. "Why are you in Mistral?"

Neo just tilted her head at her.

Weiss raised an eyebrow. "If you're not going to answer questions I hardly see why we shouldn't just turn you over to the police."

Neo signed something. Neptune translated, "She says she doesn't talk to people who don't know how to knock."

Yang frowned, and leaned a little more of her weight on the chair.

Weiss frowned, looking to Blake. "What is she talking about?"

"Ren and I broke into her apartment," Blake said, her face doing that flat thing Yang hated. "She... had some very rude gestures for us."

Done with Neo's bullshit, Yang tapped the back of her chair pointedly, using one of the fingers on her metal arm. "So? Why are you in Mistral?"

More signs. Neptune said, "She says she's here to kill Cinder."

A pause. Utter silence in the room. Yang stared down at the top of Neopolitan's half-and-half hair.

"What?" Nora blurted out, speaking for all of them.

"Um," Neptune put in, "who's Cinder?"

"Someone worth killing," Weiss told him in a vicious undertone.

Yang blinked, looking to her. She didn't like that look in Weiss' eyes at all: hard and cold, the way they joked she could be. Not everything about their life was light-hearted, but Weiss could be practical without being... that. The person sneering right now was one Yang didn't know.

Blake walked around the chair to stand next to Yang. Yang turned her head to meet her girlfriend's eyes.

"Ask her why she wants to kill Cinder," Blake murmured.

Yang looked down to Neo, who had definitely heard the question. She didn't look up, just looked at Weiss with a little smirk. Yang rolled her eyes.

"Fine. Apparently the _master criminal's apprentice_ wants to play stupid games," Yang huffed. "Why do you want to kill Cinder?"

Hand signs, these sharper. Neptune frowned, his voice flat. "She says Cinder killed Roman." A beat. "Um, guys? Who is _Roman_?"

Weiss opened her mouth, only for Ruby's fingers to wrap around her arm. Weiss looked back, an eyebrow raised, and Ruby shook her head.

"Roman," Blake said, "was one of the orchestrators of the attack on Beacon."

That... was probably the way to describe Roman without pissing off the girl who still carried his cane. Yang didn't want to know what Weiss would have said.

Yang frowned, looking to Blake. She raised an eyebrow, quietly asking if Blake believed her. Blake tilted her head to the side, lips pursed. Yang flicked her eyes to Weiss. Weiss still had a hint of that hardness in her eyes, but she looked thoughtful, too. Ruby's heart shone through on her face; she felt bad for Neo, Yang could tell.

"You," Weiss said to Neo, "are going to go away for a while. We are going to discuss this. Blake, could you retie her hands? Yang, if you could move Neopolitan into the bathroom?"

Yang nodded. Blake knelt, using the rope to tie Neo's hands to the chair arms. Yang shifted her grip on the back of the chair, dragging it toward the bathroom. When she got to the other room, she lifted the chair entirely - Neo didn't weigh much - and placed it in the middle of the tile. The last thing she saw before she closed the door was Neo's wink.

"Um, Weiss?" Neptune asked from his end. "What was that? Cinder? Roman? And who is that girl?"

Weiss sighed, turning the screen toward herself. "You and I are going to have a very long talk very soon. Right now, however, RNJR and RWBY need to decide what to do with her." Weiss hesitated, the pause so short Yang didn't think JNR would pick up on it. "I dislike asking this of you, but could you remain available for translation for a little longer?"

"Of course, Weiss," Neptune said. Yang didn't have to know the guy to hear the mush in his voice.

Weiss colored a little, clearing her throat. "Thank you, Neptune." She slid the scrol closed. Weiss blinked. "You can stop staring at any time now."

The rest of the room looked away, clearing throats and rubbing the backs of heads. Except Yang. Yang narrowed her eyes.

"You and Neptune aren't the only ones who are gonna have a long talk soon." She said, quietly enough that JNR wouldn't hear her.

Weiss' eyes flicked to Yang's. She nodded. Yang relaxed, letting it go for now.

The other girl took a deep breath, turning to the rest of the group. "Now we need to ask ourselves: What do we do with Neopolitan?


	55. The Question of Neopolitan II

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Correction to last chapter: the mention of Neo reading lips has been changed to her not being deaf.

"Um, give her to the cops?" Nora suggested, frowning. "I mean, if she knew where Cinder was, and she's really here to kill her, wouldn't she have tried already?"

"Not if she has any idea what Cinder's capable of," Ren commented quietly. "Neopolitan is a remarkable fighter, but she would not be sufficient to best a fully-realized Maiden."

Not if Pyrrha hadn't been enough to kill a partial one. Fuck.

"I agree with Nora," Jaune said quietly. "If we turn her over to the police, they'll deal with her."

"And if she tells them what we're planning?" Weiss asked.

"Um... what _are_ we planning?" Ruby asked, rubbing the back of her head. "Are we gonna... um. Are we gonna kill her?"

Silence fell. 

Yang frowned down at the carpet. She didn't know how she felt about that. She hadn't cried a single fucking tear when Blake told her Adam died, but he'd been... Yang stopped. She didn't know if he'd been any different. Blake had never said he'd killed anyone, but the threat he'd made, the way he struck at Yang when he... when he _took her arm_ , he'd struck without any hesitation. If he'd been even a little bit to the side, he might have killed her instead of cutting off her arm. And he'd been there for the invasion, supplied his people and his sword. So far as Yang had been able to piece together, Cinder hadn't personally killed anyone but the girl under Beacon. But she'd been indirectly responsible for the death of every single person in Beacon. Yang didn't want to think that the reason she was hesitating now, but didn't blame Blake at all for killing Adam, was that Adam had done something personally wrong to Blake. Cinder had killed one of their friends right in front of her sister, and that mattered, but it... somehow wasn't the same.

"Do we have a choice?" Blake asked quietly. "None of us have a way to restrain her."

No one mentioned Ruby's ability. She'd said that she didn't know how to make it work on purpose, or even how she'd done it the first time. They couldn't rely on something that they couldn't be absolutely sure would work. And it hadn't restrained Cinder, obviously, just made her back off.

"Do we..." Jaune took a deep breath. "Do we even know we _can_ kill her?"

Weiss cleared her throat. "The last two Maiden deaths were accomplished by a small group of well-coordinated individuals."

Yang snorted. "We're not exactly 'well-coordinated'." 

They'd done some training on the boat, but not as a group. RWBY knew each other, but Yang didn't think for a second that JNR had healed from the rift that Pyrrha left behind. And the big group of them had never worked all together before. Maybe just RWBY could do it, but Yang didn't think so. Especially not if they had to deal with any of Cinder's allies.

"Maybe we should find her before we decide on that," Ren said quietly.

Nods went around the group, some less satisfied than others. The argument wasn't even close to done, but Ren was right in that the answer didn't really matter yet.

"Do we think Neopolitan is telling the truth?" Weiss asked, looking around the room.

"I do," Ruby chimed in. "They fought together really well, and sounded like they were close."

None of them needed to point out that you had to choose to work with someone to learn to fight with them. You didn't have to like them, but it helped.

"She has his cane," Yang said, frowning. "She combined it with her umbrella."

Heads turned toward the door, which was where Blake had left Neo's umbrella.

"Ruby," Weiss asked, "how difficult would it be to do that?"

Ruby walked over to the umbrella, and picked it up, turning it over in her hands. She flicked it open and closed a few times, extended the blade and retracted it. She pulled the sword out of the handle, gave it a few swipes, then put it back.

"Not hard," Ruby said, setting the umbrella against the wall again, "but it would take a while 'cause you'd have to be careful about it. It'd be expensive even if she can forge, but if she can't, it'd cost a _lot_." Ruby turned back to them, frowning. "And a lot could go wrong."

"Did she..." Jaune looked pale, but swallowed through it. "Did she get anything out of it? I mean, did his cane do anything her umbrella can't?"

"It could fire bullets, but her umbrella can't do that now," Ruby said.

Nora shook her head, scootin a little closer to Ren. "So... she risked her weapon, and didn't really get anything out of it?"

"She got something out of it," Blake said quietly.

Yang looked to her, not liking the darkness in her voice. She remembered their conversation about Jaune and Milo, Blake saying she didn't know if she would do as well as Jaune had, if it were her without Yang. Yang thought Blake would get through it - she was stronger than she thought she was - but she didn't want her to have to. If Yang had anything to say about it, she never would.

Weiss said something else, but Yang wasn't really listening. She stepped closer to Blake, brushing their shoulders together. "Hey. I'm here."

Blake turned her head to the side, eyes searching Yang's. She breathed out, the tension leaking out of her a little. Blake mouthed, 'thank you', and Yang nodded.

"Does she even want to work together?" Jaune asked when Yang tuned back into the conversation.

"She'd be an idiot not to consider it," Weiss pointed out.

"Or," Blake said, "she could have doubts about trusting us. Same as we do her."

Ruby yawned, which made the rest of the room yawn with her. Weiss shook her head at it, looking irritated. "I suppose we should ask further after her intentions. Are there any objections?"

No one said anything. Weiss pulled her scroll back out of her pocket, and turned to Yang and Blake. Yang flipped her a salute, and she and Blake headed back to the bathroom.

When they opened the door, the chair and restraints lay on the floor. The window - the one that Yang would have thought was too small for anyone to get through - hung open. On the mirror, written in Weiss' shade of lipstick, was a message:

_Message me, Blondie xx_

Underneath it was written a scroll number.

"Shit," Blake hissed, walking into the room. Yang clenched her jaw. Blake slammed back the shower door, eyes raking up and down the chamber. Empty. "She's gone."

Yang stomped back out into the room, a hint of red haze her vision. They weren't going to get her like that again. Neo was a jerk, not stupid. She'd go down to ground, and she had the money to do it if she had the money to rent out that kind of apartment.

"Damn it," Jaune swore. "How did she get out?"

"The window," Blake said grimly. "Somehow."

Ruby frowned. "Her Semblance, I guess? How'd she get out of the ropes, though?"

"Who knows?" Yang clenched her fists. "She's gone now."

They didn't get anywhere else that night. There was nowhere to go. Neopolitan was gone, and they'd agreed not to decide on Cinder until they knew where she was.

Yang and Blake ended up back in their room, Yang still strung tight. She made herself sit down on their bed, closing her eyes.

She felt Blake move closer. Cool fingers brushed a piece of hair back from her face, and Yang turned her head into the touch.

"What do you need, Yang?" Blake asked quietly.

Yang opened her eyes, searching Blake's face. She looked just as strung-up as Yang felt, little lines of exhaustion starting to show.

"I think we both need it," Yang said, tugging her down onto the bed.

They ended up curled together, Yang spooning Blake and their fingers intertwined. Yang pulled her shirt up to expose her stomach, and they both sighed when their skin met.

"I love you," Yang murmured into Blake's neck, pulling her closer.

"I love you, too," Blake said, fitting herself into Yang's body.

They fell asleep like that, neither caring that they were still in their combat clothes, still wearing their boots. All that mattered was that they were still together, still alive.


	56. Negotiations

Yang sprawled out on their bed, scowling. She didn't want to message Neo, but since the note on the mirror had been written to her, she was probably the best person for it.

"Do you think she was flirting with me?" Yang asked Blake, stalling.

"Yes," Blake said, kneeling next to her pack.

Yang blinked. "Really?"

Blake looked up, a smile tugging at the corner of her mouth. "Yes, really."

Yang propped herself up on her elbows. "And that... doesn't bother you?"

"Why would it?" Blake shook her head. "As disturbing as that is, she's been more respectful than most people have since we came here." She raised an eyebrow. "And I doubt I have anything to worry about."

"Nope." Not from anyone, but especially not someone like Neo.

Yang looked down at her phone. She groaned, but sent the message.

_Yangarang: what do u want_

She flopped back on the bed, watching Blake reorganize her pack. "Your interview's in a couple days, right?"

Blake hummed out a 'yes' noise.

"Think they'll have you fight the Lionheart guy?"

Yang's scroll chimed.

_Ice Cream Bitch: Same thing you want. Difference is, I know how to get it._

Yang rolled her eyes. Sure, Neo.

_Yangarang: so why havent u done it_

"I think if they do, he'll be in for a surprise. Weiss thinks he'll be able to see though my clones, but he can't stop me from using them."

Yang nodded. "Makes sense."

She was still _worried_ about Blake going up against someone who ignored Semblances and Aura, but out of the group, she was probably one of the best to fight him if someone had to. Yang relied heavily on Aura both to fight normally and to charge up her Semblance, Weiss used her glyphs on the enemy a lot, and everyone else counted on Aura to take at least one hit for them. Blake had a decent amount of Aura, but preferred to use her clones to dodge. Yang still would rather her fight someone else, but Blake was good at this. She'd be okay.

_Ice Cream Bitch: I don't have the manpower.  
Ice Cream Bitch: Gonna need some proof this is you before we keep talking, Blondie._

"Neopolitan?" Blake asked, dry.

"Yeah," Yang frowned. "She wants proof it's me."

Blake zipped her pack, walking over to the bed. "Send her a selfie."

Yang rolled that over in her head, then nodded. "C'mere, I'm gonna make this real clear for her."

Raising an eyebrow, Blake sat down next to her. Yang slowly reached out to wrap an arm around Blake's waist. When her girlfriend allowed it without comment, Yang pulled her in close. Angling the camera so the picture would catch both the arm around Blake and the warning in Yang's eyes, Yang snapped a picture.

She sent it without a caption, then turned to Blake. Her partner leaned in for a quick kiss, fingers brushing over Yang's jaw.

"Why are you making it clear, exactly?" Blake asked, amused.

Yang stole another kiss, keeping Blake close. "I don't want her getting any crazy ideas."

Her scroll went off again.

_Ice Cream Bitch: 10/10 would fight  
Ice Cream Bitch: You haven't found her yet because you've been looking in the wrong places. Green and Silver would be in the bad parts of town, but they split from Fall after the attack. She's got a new crew now. Fall's been talking up the rich Mistrali, trying to get money for something._

"How does Neo know any of that?" Blake asked, frowning. "She shouldn't know we were looking, or where. And the rest...."

_Yangarang: um what?? have u been stalking me? and how do u kno all that if u left her after vale_  
_Ice Cream Bitch: I know what I'm doing. You're cute, Blondie, but you don't know who to squeeze for what, or how to make sure they keep their mouth shut about you. Fall hasn't been in Mistral in days, but I know when she'll be back.  
Ice Cream Bitch: I can tell you, but I want in._

Yang sighed. Of course she did. It wasn't surprising, just a pain in the ass. None of them trusted her - even Ruby probably just thought she was telling the truth, instead of flat-out trusting her - but if Neo really knew when Cinder would be back, they needed that information. And if she lied, they could always just cut her out.

"We're gonna have to have another team meeting," Yang said.

"It'll be a short one," Blake said. "We don't have much of a choice."

Yang nodded, then sent out the group text for a meeting that night. She thought about it for a second, then sent a single text to Weiss, asking her where she was.

_Yangarang: ill get back to you.  
Ice Cream Bitch: Take your time, Blondie. I'll be thinking about you. ;)_

Yang closed her scroll with a snap, grumbling.

"What is it about her that bothers you?" Blake asked, wrapping an arm around her shoulders.

Sighing, Yang cuddled into her girlfriend. "She's just... I think we could have been friends. I don't know how else to explain it. It's so frustrating to feel like that, but know she's a jerk."

Blake nodded, her other hand playing with Yang's fingers. Yang's scroll chimed again.

_Weiss Cream: I will be back at the hotel in forty minutes.  
Yangarang: we should talk_

"Be nice to Weiss about Neptune," Blake said. "I think they're still figuring things out."

Yang blinked. "She didn't tell you about him, huh?"

Blake shook her head. "She's been strangely quiet about her 'correspondence'. I think Ruby found out somehow and that's why they were acting so strangely on the boat, but she didn't tell me herself." Blake hummed. "I suspected something when she mentioned an interpreter. Sun told me that he and Neptune bonded over both having deaf siblings."

"I'll be... mostly nice," Yang said. "I'm kinda mad she didn't say anything."

"We've never been the best about talking to one another about things, Yang," Blake said gently. "We're getting better."

Yang grumped, but nodded. She hadn't really gone to Weiss about Blake either. At Beacon, she couldn't think of anything she'd asked Weiss for help about that wasn't homework, and even that was only if Blake couldn't help or was busy.

_Weiss Cream: I imagine so. I will message you after I've arrived and changed._

"Do you have anything to do before you meet Weiss?" Blake asked.

Yang shook her head.

Blake shifted, throwing a leg over both of Yang's and settling into her lap. She laced her fingers together behind Yang's neck.

"Um, Blake?" Yang tilted her head up at her girlfriend. "I mean, I'm not saying no, but I totally don't have time to do this right _and_ grab a shower before Weiss gets back so I don't show up smelling like sex."

Blake shook her head. "Just kiss me." A smile curled the corner of her mouth. "Unless you forgot how to make out without it leading to orgasms?"

Yang scoffed, resting her hands on Blake's hips. "No way. C'mere."

By the time her scroll chirped to let her know Weiss was back, Yang's head was nice and fuzzy. She had a couple new marks she figured she could hide with her hair, and she redirected her Aura away from healing them. Blake had groaned when Yang gently moved her back onto the bed, and Yang smirked to herself. She was pretty sure she knew what Blake was gonna get up to while she was talking to Weiss.

_Yangarang: be right up_

Yang winked at her flustered girlfriend, and headed out to meet Weiss.


	57. Correspondence

Weiss answered the door with a sigh and a wary look.

Yang tried to resist. Really, she did. But she didn't choose the pun life, the pun life chose her.

"What's wrong? _Weiss_ got you down?"

Weiss shook her head, sighing again. "You are incorrigible." The wariness disappeared, though, so Yang counted it as a win.

"Don't worry, Weiss," Yang grinned, walking in when Weiss turned to let her pass, "puns are an art that can be learned."

"Perish the thought," Weiss said dryly.

Yang plopped down on the couch, stretching her arms out on the back of it. Weiss sat across from her in one of the chairs, legs crossed and arms folded over her chest.

"I imagine," Weiss sighed, "that you're here to talk about Neptune."

Yang flicked a hand. "Yeah, in a minute. First I figured I'd tell you about what happened earlier."

After Yang told her about Neopolitan, Weiss frowned.

"I agree with Blake. We don't have much of a choice. I will, of course, be launching my own investigation into the upper echelons of Mistrali society, but it will likely be faster and more efficient to gain the information from her." Weiss waved a hand. "Not that I won't be attempting to corroborate the information regardless, but it may be time-sensitive."

Yang nodded. She didn't like the thought, but didn't see another option, either. They still didn't know what Cinder was up to other than "find and kill the rest of the Maidens, probably", or when she planned on making her move. They needed information _now_.

"So," Yang said, "Neptune."

Weiss sighed. "Neptune."

"How long have you been talking to him?"

Weiss' eyes slid from hers down to glare holes in the floor. "Since you reminded me I've been isolating myself."

Since she and Blake had broken into the Schnee Mansion in Atlas, then. Yang nodded. If Weiss had been keeping up with him when she hadn't reached out to her own team, she'd be pissed, but this was... well. She didn't _want_ Weiss to have had no support besides her sister after Beacon, but it would have hurt if she'd reached out to some guy she barely knew instead of her team.

"Okay," Yang said, "I figure you've probably thought about all the other stuff, like how your family's gonna feel and all that. So... you wanna go through all that with him?"

Weiss blinked at her. "I'm not certain yet." Her face softened into a look Yang knew from seeing it on Blake's face. She was serious, then. "I'm inclined to allow us time to find out."

Yang nodded thoughtfully. Then, "Wait. Isn't Neptune from Mistral? Shouldn't he be here? And if Sun is from Vacuo, why was he the leader of a Haven team?"

"Sun and Neptune are like brothers," Weiss explained. "They met while Neptune's family were pursuiing business interests in Vacuo - which is where they are now, incidentally - and have been inseparable since."

"Huh."

Weiss raised an eyebrow. "If you're quite done?"

Yang shook her head, standing. "Nope."

She walked over, wrapping her arms around Weiss' shoulders in a gentle hug. Weiss stiffened against her. Then slowly, her arms came up to wrap around Yang in return. She took a deep breath, burying her face in Yang's neck. Yang pulled her closer, stroking a hand down her back. Weiss let out a breath, relaxing into her, and Yang let her eyes close.

"Hey," Yang asked quietly, "how are you doing? I know we've got a lot going on, and then there's stuff with your sister. Y'wanna, y'know, talk about stuff?"

Weiss sighed, stepping back. "I'm more concerned about you than I am about myself."

Yang tilted her head. "Huh? Why?

Crossing her arms over her chest, Weiss raised an eyebrow. It didn't have the bite it usually did, but Yang got the point. "You were someone almost unrecognizeable when you came to the mansion, and I'm worried about you, Yang."

"I'm fine," Yang shrugged.

A sharper arch of her eyebrow, and a little bit of frost in her voice: "You can't expect honesty, but give none in return."

Yang cracked her neck, sighing. "Yeah, that's... that's fair." She threw herself back on the couch. "I'm... I'm hanging in there. There are good days and bad." She gave Weiss a crooked smile. "I don't know if I could do it without Blake."

"I'm glad you can be there for one another," Weiss smiled in return, one of her rare real smiles.

"We can be there for you, too, all of us can," Yang said. "You're one of us, Weiss. You know that, right?"

Weiss let her eyes close, the hint of a smile on her lips. "I could stand to remember more often."

Yang grinned. "I can remind you."

Eyes flying open only to narrow, Weiss said, "Yang Xiao Long, if you make this into a pun--"

"Not this time," Yang laughed. "No promises about the future, though."

Weiss snorted, turning her head to the side, but didn't look nearly as tense as she had over the past week.

"So," Yang grinned, "tell me all about your new _suitor_! You've been talking to him for months, gimme all the juicy details."

Weiss groaned, hiding her head in her hands. "You are the worst."

"I'm the best," Yang told her, "now dish!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We're getting into the complex plot parts of Enter The Dragon, so I'll be breaking the daily update schedule in favor of getting everything set up properly. I have a long list of stuff that needs to be handled before the end, but I'd like to make sure it all fits together the way I want it to. I'll be back with the daily updates on 20 Mar.
> 
> Quick reminder that I have a tumblr (fallintolife.tumblr.com), on which I love talking RWBY, and occasionally give ETD previews. Any questions, comments, or concerns can be directed thataway, and my askbox is open to anons. :)


	58. One Question Down

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We're moving to every-other-day updates. Should be enough to keep the story moving, while giving me enough time to work out plot points in advance.

The meeting lasted about ten minutes, and most of that was long pauses where nobody wanted to say that they don't have a choice but to trust Neo. After a while, they all grumbled but accepted it, and Yang sent her a message. The only new thing that came out of it was Weiss announcing that she rented them a gym for team practice.

Yang grinned. "How sturdy is this new gym?"

Weiss raised an eyebrow. "I've been assured that nothing short of intentional destruction will cause damange." She snorted. "And yes, I asked after flammability. It should be fine."

"Awesome," Yang smirked, already thinking of stuff she could get up to.

Of course she wanted to check out the gym right away, and Weiss handed her a key.

"There are only two, and I'm keeping the second on my person," Weiss warned her. she paused. "On second thought, I think I'd prefer it if Blake carried the key."

Ruby snickered, and Yang pretended to be hurt. "Weiss!"

Blake stole the key out of her hand while she was distracted with Weiss, and Yang turned a betrayed look on her. Blake smiled, darting forward to steal a kiss. While Yang floundered, she slipped out of the room.

"What...?" Yang turned to look at Weiss and Ruby, JNR having already left. "What just...?"

"What are you waiting for?" Weiss asked, amused. Ruby followed that up with, "Get it!"

Yang's jaw dropped, but she ran out of the room after her girlfriend.

[*]

Blake led her on a chase through the city, leaping over rooftops and dashing through alleys. She flickered over greater distances with her clones, looking back to dare Yang to follow her. Yang laughed and used Ember Celica to propel herself.

Just when they got to the gym, Yang lost sight of Blake.

Swearing under her breath, she landed in front of the door, looking around. A blur of black hair and white coat appeared in front of her, Blake grinning in a way that told Yang she'd been _letting_ Yang keep up with her.

Yang laughed, sweeping Blake off of her feet. Blake yelped, but wrapped her legs around Yang with a breathless giggle. Yang started dropping kisses to her cheeks, her nose, her chin. Blake kept giggling, playfully fending her off.

"Yang," Blake pretended to protest, but kept herself wrapped around her girlfriend.

Yang kept kissing her, her hands under Blake's legs for support. "Mmhmm, Blakey?"

Giving up, Blake settled into her with a happy hum. Yang pressed a last kiss to her cheek, holding her close.

"Key?" Yang asked, pulling back just far enough to meet Blake's eyes.

Blake reached into her top, pulling the key out from between her tits. Yang laughed, nipping at her jaw.

"Next time you're going to have to find it," Blake told her, dropping to her feet.

Smirking, Yang turned toward the gym door. "Oh, don't worry. I'll definitely find it. I might have to strip-search you, though."

Blake brushed past her on her way inside, laughing softly. "You say that like I'd mind."

"I'd make it worth your time," Yang promised, walking inside.

The gym was pretty cool. It had a big sunken arena in the middle that was made of some kinda weird black stone that Yang had never seen before. There were weights and some gymnastic equipment scattered throughout the rest of it, with mirrors like any good gym. Yang grinned, lacing her fingers behind her head.

"Ready for a good workout, Blakey?"

Blake chuckled, turning to her. "Think you can give me one?"

Yang smirked. "Babe, I've been working you out every night, lately."

Singing metal announced Blake drawing Gambol Shroud. "Not like this."

They screwed around in the arena for a while. They hadn't had any opportunities to spar full-contact over the past couple weeks, and needed to get used to each other again. Weiss renting them all out a gym was a good call; if _Yang and Blake_ needed to get used to each other again, pretty much everyone did. There wasn't enough room to practice any aerial stuff, or for Blake to swing her around, but it was good to just test themselves against one another. 

When they called it a night, Yang had a couple messages on her scroll. She shot off replies - a report on the gym to Ruby and Nora, quick reassurance to Weiss that they hadn't blown the place up - until she got to the one from Neo.

_Ice Cream Bitch: I knew you were smarter than you looked. I'll find you soon and give you the details. Never trust your scroll._

"Never trust your scroll, huh?" Yang wondered out loud, frowning down at it. "I guess she'd know."

"Come on," Blake said, brushing past her, "let's get back to the hotel."


	59. Of All The Trains In All The World

They were eating dinner when a thought struck Yang. She stopped mid-cut, staring down at the table.

"Yang?" Blake's calf settled against hers.

Yang frowned. "Remind me when we get back to the room."

Blake nodded, and they finished their meal in peace.

Back in the room, Yang started pacing. "Y'know how I told you I thought I saw... someone... on the train? After I fought Neo the first time?"

Blake took a seat on their bed, nodding.

"She had to have seen whoever it was. Neo got off the train in one piece, so she had to see whoever chased her off; she didn't get whacked in the back of the head or anything or she'd probably be dead." Yang stared down at the carpet as she moved. "You think... you think she'd tell me?"

Blake made a small noise in the back of her throat. "I don't think she'd give it to you for free."

Yang nodded. "I don't, either. But... she's probably the only lead I've got, right now."

What Yang didn't say - and neither did Blake - was that Yang was pretty sure Raven had been her rescuer. She didn't know why, or how, and she didn't dare ask her dad, but from what she'd seen, it looked like her. And who else would step in to save her like that? Okay, Yang didn't even know why Raven would do it, but going by Qrow's old stories, popping up out of nowhere, then disappearing, was something Raven might have been able to do. He never talked much about his twin, but there were weird holes in his fight stories that could only be filled by either Raven's Semblance, or Summer's.

(Taiyang didn't talk about Summer's Semblance. Yang was pretty sure it was something speedy, like Ruby, 'cause of how he talked about Ruby's Semblance and how much he knew about it, but nobody had ever told her straight out. She probably could have asked Ozpin, now that she thought about it. Damn.)

Yang flopped down on the bed next to Blake, groaning and burying her head in Blake's leg. Blake stroked her hair. Yang peeked out from Blake's leg long enough to send out the message.

_Yangarang: hey u remember on the train? did u get a look at the woman who chased you off??_

Blake kept petting her. Yang wrapped her arm around Blake's leg, cuddling into her. She relaxed little by little, the tension draining out of her with every pass of Blake's hand.

"I love you," Blake said quietly.

"I love you, too." Yang shifted to look up at her with one eye. "Hey, how do you always know what to do when I'm getting worked up?"

"It's what you do for me."

Yang blinked up at her. "I do?"

Blake tucked a piece of hair behind her head. "Mmhmm. Every time I'm starting to get skittish, you find a way to touch me, or get us away from people."

Yang frowned. "Yeah, but that's...."

"Exactly what I need."

_Ice Cream Bitch: Yeah. She your sugar momma or something?_

Yang snorted, breaking the moment. "If only you knew."

_Yangarang: uh no I already have a sugar momma and I dont wanna make her jealous. do u remember what she looked like??_

"Weiss would be the jealous type," Blake said dryly, scooting back to lean against the headboard of the bed.

Yang snorted, moving with her. "Poor Neptune. He better not flirt with anybody else, or she's gonna freeze him out."

_Ice Cream Bitch: I'll get you a picture, but you're going to have to do me a favor, Blondie._  
_Yangarang: what kind of favor  
Ice Cream Bitch: I haven't decided yet. :)_

Yang groaned, aggressively cuddling Blake's leg. " _Fuck_ ," she drew the word out. "I really don't wanna owe a career criminal a favor."

Blake rested a hand on the top of her head, quiet.

_Yangarang: how would u even get a pic  
Ice Cream Bitch: I'm a sketch artist._

Yang stared down at her phone. She closed the screen, then opened it back up. The message didn't change.

"It makes sense," Blake said, when Yang showed her. "She's an illusionist. Being able to vividly imagine details probably helps with her Semblance."

Yeah, okay, that did make sense. It sucked, but it made sense.

_Yangarang: I cant just let u have an open favor like that_  
_Yangarang: I know ur life I know what u do  
Ice Cream Bitch: Do you? All you know about me is that I was Roman's. Maybe I just want you to bring me soup while my knee heals._

Yang snorted, ignoring the pang of guilt. "Yeah, right." 

Neo didn't give her much of a choice but to do what she did. Yang knew that, but couldn't make herself feel that way. She kept seeing Mercury and his fake tears, the boos and anger of the crowd. Her own team, doubting her.

_Yangarang: if thats the favor u got a deal_  
_Ice Cream Bitch: It's not. Just a reminder that you don't know me. :)  
Ice Cream Bitch: C'mon, Blondie. I'm pretty sure I'm the only chance you've got. She didn't stick around after she was done saving you from me, did she?_

Yang hissed a breath out through her cheeks. No, she didn't. It was just Raven, wasn't it, to do something that gave more questions than answers, and then disappear? Why did Yang even _care_? Obviously Raven didn't care enough about her to stick around ever, just enough to keep screwing Taiyang around. Yang should let it go, forget she ever heard the name Raven, but she couldn't.

A hand blocked her view of the scroll. Yang turned her head to face Blake, frowning.

"Come here?" Blake asked quietly, her eyes searching Yang's.

Yang put the scroll to the side. She sat up, letting Blake handle her. Yang ended up sitting between Blake's legs, with her girlfriend's hands tracing over her shoulders. She let out a breath, closing her eyes.

"You were starting to get hot," Blake said softly.

"I'm always hot," Yang said. She didn't have enough energy to make it sound even a little flirty.

"You are," Blake said easily, "but usually your _temperature_ is just a little above average."

Yang sighed. "Yeah, I know."

Blake pressed a kiss to her temple, rubbing circles into her skin. Yang curled into her, resting her left hand on Blake's thigh.

They stayed like that for a while, Blake keeping up soothing patterns wherever she found exposed skin. Yang felt the anger seep out of her, just leaving tiredness.

"Hey," she said, "you can... can you take off my arm?"

Blake paused for a few seconds. Yang didn't say a word. Her girlfriend's hand lightly ran down her right arm. When she got to the connecting piece, Yang flinched, nearly shuddering right out of her skin. Blake stopped, waiting. Yang took a deep breath, then moved her arm back into Blake's touch. She shivered through Blake hitting the releases. Blake knew enough from being around her to make it quick, and she set Yang's prosthetic on the side table.

They slid down to lie down properly, and Yang buried her face in Blake's neck.

"Thank you," Blake murmured.

"For what?" Yang asked.

"For trusting me," Blake said simply.

Yang kissed her neck, burrowing in deeper. "You're welcome."


	60. Training

The next day they got in some group training.

They still didn't have enough room for the crazy stuff, but they had enough room to learn how to move around each other, how to not collide or interfere with other people's styles. 

Yang would have killed for enough room to really get to play with Nora, Weiss, and Blake. Nora's strength, Weiss' glyphs, and Blake's ribbon sounded like a fun combination.

When it looked like they were breaking up, Yang caught Weiss' eye, jerking her head back toward the arena.

"Hey, Weiss..." Yang rubbed the back of her head. "Can you... teach me Dust casting?" Weiss blinked in surprise, and Yang hurried on, "I mean, I know it in theory? I've just never..." She shook her head. "It's expensive, y'know? And Ruby took to it better, so I let her use it. But now...."

"Now, we adapt," Weiss said, nodding. "Of course, Yang." She paused, tilting her head to the side. "I am curious, however: why ask me, instead of Blake? I'm undoubtedly stronger with ice usage, but she's more flexible with the others. And I doubt you want to make ice your primary Dust element."

"Probably not," Yang admitted. She took a deep breath. "It's just... she already does a lot for me. Not that you don't, just... it's different." Yang tucked in the corner of her mouth, not sure how to say what she meant.

"You do more for her than you realize," Weiss said, "but I'm willing to teach you. We'll start with ice, since that's my strongest element."

Weiss was a better teacher than Yang expected. She figured she'd be dodging Weiss' temper the entire time, since they rubbed each other wrong a lot, but Weiss stayed surprisingly patient. She didn't make Yang feel dumb, even though Yang knew Weiss was better with this stuff than she was. By the time they got done that night, Yang knew a lot more than she had. Weiss didn't let her touch the powdered Dust just yet, saying she wasn't ready for it, but Yang managed to feel some kinda connection to the water Dust crystal Weiss happened to have on her.

"Productive session?" Blake asked when they packed it in.

Yang looked around - just the three of them; Ruby had gone back to the hotel with JNR - before brushing a kiss over Blake's cheek. "Yeah. If I'm good, my sugar momma might even let me touch the Dust tomorrow."

Weiss rolled her eyes, but her shoulder touched Yang's on her way out, which was as good as a tackle-hug from anyone else.

"We're defrosting her," Blake said quietly, wrapping an arm around Yang's waist with a smile.

Yang grinned, kissing the top of Blake's head. "Before you know it, she'll be posing on chairs again."

On their way back, they passed through downtown Mistral. The nightlife of the city was just waking up, lights winking on as the sun dipped below the horizon.

Yang had almost gotten used to people staring at them. They were all hot, armed, and, well, _armed_. So when a girl stepped in front of them with some flyers for a new nightclub in hand, Yang just rolled her eyes.

"Hey! Get a couple lien off the door fee with this flyer!" The girl, a red-headed little thing with bright green eyes, grinned.

"No," Weiss said flatly, moving as if to walk right past her.

The girl tilted her head, smirking. Something on her face rippled, and for a second, mismatched eyes shone through. Yang sighed. Neopolitan.

"Yeah, I'll take one," Yang said, reaching out. Blake, who had probably seen it, didn't say a word. Weiss raised an eyebrow.

"Oh, you'll wanna get a good look at it, Ice Queen," Neopolitan said sweetly. Weiss glared, huffing.

"Can we go now?" Weiss demanded, crossing her arms over her chest.

Yang nodded, and the three of them left Neopolitan behind.

"That," Blake said, coming up on Weiss' other side, "was our visitor from the other night."

Weiss snorted. "Of course it was. She couldn't meet us somewhere like a normal person, she had to find us when she really shouldn't have been able to, and come in disguise."

"In her defense," Blake said, "the last time we knew where to find her, we kidnapped her."

Yang looked down at the piece of paper in her hand. It really was a flyer, but for something called the Kaleidescope Festival. In neat, loopy handwriting at the bottom was written: _'You can find just about anybody at the Kaleidescope Festival, Blondie'_ with a messy heart drawn underneath it.

Weiss leaned over to look at the flyer. "The Kaleidescope Festival? I suppose that makes sense."

"So," Yang said, handing the paper over to Blake, "you wanna tell me what it is?"

"The Kaleidescope Festival serves much the same purpose to Mistral as the Vytal Festival does for Vale," Weiss explained. "Instead of having students compete, Mistral's Kaleidescope Festival invites rookie Hunter teams to participate. Any team that has been together less than four years is allowed to compete. The prize money is... substantial."

"Coming from you, that must be a lot of money," Yang said.

Weiss flicked her fingers. "The Schnee Dust Company tends to get a lot of business from the top three teams after the tournament, if not before."

"Did you see this, Yang?" Blake had turned the flyer over, and was looking at something drawn on the back.

"Huh? No." Yang took the flyer back.

The drawing was a really good sketch of Yang, Blake, Weiss, and Ruby, all in their new outfits. There were probably a lot of people who had seen Weiss in her new combat dress, plenty who had seen Yang in her new coat while they looked for Neo, and a handful who had seen either Ruby or Blake. Someone who had seen all four, and wasn't a member of RWBY or RNJR? Just Neo, as far as Yang knew. At the bottom, in the same handwriting from the front of the flyer, said, _'Try before you buy, Blondie xx'_

Weiss frowned down at the sketch. "Is this blackmail?"

Yang shook her head. "No, it's...." She sighed. "Can I tell you about it another time?"

"Of course," Weiss said. "Be careful, Yang."

Yang watched Weiss out of the corner of her eye, making sure she wasn't returning to the ice queen. Weiss took her words in stride, it looked like, without any tension or frost. Yang relaxed. Good.

They split up when they got back to the hotel, Weiss leaving Blake and Yang at the door to their room.

"The Festival is in a month," Yang said, tucking the flyer into her bag.

Blake nodded, taking a seat on their bed. "And Neo seems to think Cinder will be there."

Yang sighed. "It would make sense, wouldn't it? If she's trying to get money for something, she could talk people into giving it to her, or maybe just steal it. They gotta keep the prize money somewhere."

"Mm," Blake hummed, reaching out a hand. "Come here?"

Yang crossed the room, sitting sideways in Blake's lap. Blake wrapped her arms around Yang, tilting her head upward. Yang leaned down for a kiss, smiling when their lips met.

"We'll get through it," Blake promised. "Neo, Cinder-- we'll get through it."

"I know," Yang said, wrapping her arms around Blake's shoulders. "I just need to hear you say it, sometimes."

Blake nodded, pulling her closer. Yang closed her eyes, and let herself forget about the rest of the world for a little while.


	61. Interrupted

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> More smut here. There's a list of acts committed in the end-chapter notes, along with some necessary information for understanding the discussion that happens next chapter. If you don't want to read any smut at all, you can skip from "Blake pulled back far enough to search her eyes" to "When she could think again".

"Hey, Blake?" Yang asked, when she felt less like the world was conspiring against them.

Blake hummed in answer, a little questioning noise.

"What... I know you do a lot for me." Yang tripped over her words. She felt kinda needy asking this, but she needed to know. "What... what are you...?"

"I trust you." Blake pulled back, meeting her eyes. "And you trust me. That's... that's a big deal for me, Yang. I've trusted before, but you... you were the first time it didn't turn out badly." She reached up to push Yang's coat off of her shoulders, guiding it downward. "You've never betrayed my trust. Not even when I... when I betrayed yours."

Yang shook her head, shrugging off the coat and letting it drop to the floor. "You know I forgive you for running, right?"

A sigh, and the corner of Blake's mouth turned up into a wry smile. "You know how you keep telling me that it's not about how I feel about your arm, it's how you do? I know you forgive me. And you know you're still Yang with a prosthetic. But it hasn't sunk in yet, for either of us."

Yang kissed Blake's forehead, not sure what to say. She knew, too well, what Blake meant.

"And... you remind me why I'm fighting. I want to help other faunus, but... at the end of the day I want to come home to you." Blake blushed, dropping her eyes. "I want to know that you're safe-- that you're all safe, you and Weiss and Ruby. You're... my family." She looked back up, love shining clear in her eyes. "I would burn out without you, without stopping to appreciate life with you."

Yang dipped her head to catch Blake's lips. "Thank you."

"For what?" Blake asked, mouth twisting in a wry smile at the reminder of the night before.

"For loving me." Yang kissed her again. "For existing." Another kiss, this one longer. "For trusting me."

Blake pulled back far enough to search her eyes for a moment. Then she leaned in again, opening her mouth under Yang's. They both stopped for a second, caught in the moment. Yang buried her fingers in Blake's hair, Blake pulled her closer, and they went back to kissing.

They moved up the bed to lay out on it, pressed together tight. Mouths slid together in slow, heated strokes, and Yang rolled on top of Blake, her thigh between her girlfriend's. Blake traced nails up from her hips to her shoulderblades, then raked down. Yang moaned, nipping Blake's lip as fire scorched in the wake of Blake's nails.

Somehow, she always forgot how good a kisser Blake was. Blake kissed Yang like she was the only thing in the world worth paying attention to. She drew out Yang's moans and pants, stringing her up higher and higher until her whole body sang with heat and desire. Yang did something like that for her, too, she knew, Blake moving underneath her more and more the longer they made out, making little noises that Yang swallowed down.

At some point during the kissing Blake's coat disappeared. Yang broke away to pull down the zippers on Blake's boots, getting them off her legs and onto the floor. She pressed a kiss to the inside of Blake's thigh, a jolt going through her when Blake whined. Yang grinned and kissed the other thigh, too, before moving back up.

Little pieces of clothing disappeared: Yang's boots, her gauntlets, her gloves, Blake's belt. Gambol Shroud had been set aside as soon as they came in, and Yang couldn't say when, but her belt disappeared, too.

Yang caught Blake's hands, lifting them up and over her head. Blake hummed, pushing up against her. Yang stayed firm, and Blake smiled against her mouth, rolling her body into Yang's. Their fingers interlaced.

"Tie my hands?" Blake asked when they broke apart.

"Um," Yang pushed aside some of the cotton fluff in her head. "Together?"

Blake nodded upward. "To the headboard."

Yang nodded, kissing her again. "What do you want me to use?"

"My ribbons are in my bag. Front pocket."

Yang rolled off of her, padding over to Blake's bag. She knelt, opening the front pocket and taking out the ribbons that Blake used to keep tied around her arms. She figured they were probably strong enough to hold if Blake moved around because she was enjoying herself, but not strong enough to keep her down if she wanted out.

When she turned back to her girlfriend, Blake's shirt and bra were gone, likely dropped over the side of the bed. She was flushed, a light shade of red right down her body, and Yang couldn't help but smile.

"What?" Blake asked, tucking a piece of hair behind her ear.

"You're beautiful." Yang said simply, walking over to sit on the edge of the bed.

Blake flushed a deeper color, her eyes dropping. Yang leaned in, pulling her up for a kiss. By the time they broke, Blake was smiling, her yellow eyes soft and affectionate.

Yang climbed up onto the bed next to her, a knee on either side of Blake's hips. She looked down at the ribbon in her hands, not really sure where to start. 

Blake lifted her hands over her head, wrists crossed. "Loop the center of the ribbon around my wrists."

Blake patiently talked Yang through it. She ended up with her hands tied in a way that looked loose, but didn't give when she moved.

"Done this before?" Yang teased, smiling.

"Not in the fun way," Blake said dryly, testing the bonds.

"Time to change that, then," Yang whispered, leaning down to kiss her.

Blake moved against her, never really stopping. She squirmed against the ribbons, rolled her body up into Yang's, nibbled at her lips. Every time Yang moved to put her mouth somewhere else, or tried to move lower to pull off more clothes, Blake whined in protest and twisted to kiss her again.

"Babe," Yang whispered, amused despite the throbbing between her legs, "if we keep up like this we're never gonna get anywhere."

Blake opened her mouth to argue, then looked down at her pants, which were too tight for Yang to get a hand in, but not tight enough for her to get off with a thigh between her legs. They'd tried. More than once.

Groaning in frustration, Blake leaned back against the bed. 

Yang brushed her lips over Blake's forehead. "Want me to untie you?"

Shaking her head, Blake said, "No. I just... want to keep kissing you."

"How are you so sweet?" Yang smiled, cupping her cheek.

Blake raised an eyebrow. "I don't think you can be sweet and horny at the same time."

"You're doing it right now," Yang said. She trailed her hand down Blake's neck, tracing one of her collarbones. "We don't have to have sex, y'know. Making out is good, too."

"I want you inside me." Blake rolled her hips, eyes dark.

Yang sucked in a breath, her skin prickling with heat. She moved to the side, working at the zipper to Blake's pants. "Then I should get you naked, huh?"

Her pants got quickly thrown to the side, followed up by Yang's. Most times Yang took her time getting off one or both of their panties, but this time they went fast. She shifted, putting a thigh on either side of Blake's.

Yang smiled, smoothing her palms from hip to chest so she could cup Blake's tits in her hand. Blake's eyes closed with a soft sigh, and she pushed her chest up and into Yang's touch. Yang circled her nipples with her thumbs, Blake's mouth dropping open.

The door clicked, and both their heads shot to the side.

It was closed by the time Yang got a look at it, and she frowned. "What?"

"That... was Weiss," Blake said, sounding confused. "I... think we forgot to close the door all the way."

Yang blushed, turning her head back to Blake. "Holy crap, do you think she...?"

"I'm pretty sure she did," Blake said, just as red as Yang.

Yang buried her face in her hands. Not only had Weiss seen them like this, anybody else could have walked in. They would have gotten a face full of pissed-off kickboxer, and then pissed-off swordswoman a second later, but it could have happened.

"Yang," Blake shifted a hip to get her attention. Yang peeked out from between her fingers. "Do you want to stop?"

Yang dropped her hands, closing her eyes. She was way embarrassed that Weiss had walked in on them, but also... still turned on. She shook her head. "No. You?"

"No. Just... lock the door?"

Springing off the bed, Yang locked the door, then triple-checked it. She turned back to Blake a little less red in the face, and climbed back onto the bed.

Yang settled in on Blake's side, running her lips over Blake's neck. Her partner relaxed, her eyes closing. Yang ran her hand over Blake's stomach, trailing her fingers over each rib. She mapped out the curves leading to her tits, the jut of her collarbones. Yang nibbled at her jaw, wrapping one leg around Blake's. Blake tilted her head with a quiet sigh, giving Yang more room to work.

Heat rose up between them again, slow and gentle. Blake's hips started to roll, a reminder of what she wanted, and Yang dipped a hand between her legs. Blake moaned, her legs spreading. Yang teased her teeth over Blake's neck, sliding fingers inside her.

Blake whispered Yang's name, turning her head to capture her lips. The kiss was messy, with Blake panting into her mouth and moaning quietly. Yang pressed in close, pushing skin against skin as she kept moving inside of Blake.

"Let go for me." Yang dipped her head to press open-mouthed kisses over Blake's skin.

"Yang," Blake moaned, shuddering. Her back arched, and she clenched around Yang's fingers.

Yang moved to pull out of her, and Blake closed her legs around Yang's hand. "Stay for a bit?"

Smiling, Yang nodded. "'Course."

They stayed like that for a while, then Blake asked, "Untie me?"

Yang quickly licked her fingers clean, then started in on the ribbon around Blake's hands.

As soon as she was free, Blake shifted on top of Yang, rolling their bodies together. Yang hummed, moving to take one of Blake's thighs between hers. Blake chuckled, moving against her.

"This what you want?" Blake asked, rolling one of Yang's nipples between her fingers.

"Eat me?" Yang stroked her fingers through Blake's hair, enjoying the feel of Blake's skin warm against hers.

"Gladly," Blake whispered, starting to move down her body.

Blake always took her time when she got her mouth between Yang's legs. She'd admitted that she had never done it before, but Yang could barely tell with how fast she caught on. She nibbled at Yang's hips, kissed her thighs, bit at the insides of her knees. By the time she pressed her mouth to Yang's cunt, Yang was aching, hot and wet and throbbing.

Yang whispered Blake's name, trying not to buck her hips. Blake lapped at her, sending little bolts of pleasure up Yang's spine. She whined, her left hand threading fingers through Blake's hair, right hand clutching at the sheets. Blake's hand came up to lace their fingers together.

"Blake," Yang whimpered, throwing her head back. "Blake, please, baby, please--"

Blake moaned, dipping her tongue inside Yang's cunt. Yang barely managed to keep her hips on the bed while she came, sparks flashing across her vision. She knew she said something, probably high-pitched and only barely understandable, but couldn't hear it, could only feel her lips move.

When she could think again, Blake was curled up into her side, fingers tracing slow patterns across her stomach. Yang laughed breathlessly, twisting to kiss her.

"Hey," Yang grinned against her lips.

"Hey," Blake said back, pulling her closer.

Yang kissed her again because she could, wrapping her arm around Blake's waist. They settled into one another, trading kisses back and forth.

"So, Weiss," Blake said, sighing.

Yang winced. "We're gonna have to talk to her, aren't we?"

"Probably you," Blake said, skimming her palm over Yang's hip. "She and I... don't have those conversations."

Yang paused. "About walking in on people?"

"About sex," Blake said, resting her head on Yang's shoulder.

"Ever?" Yang asked, frowning. 

"I have a very small list of people I've ever spoken to about sex," Blake said dryly, "and one of them was an older woman with the White Fang, who saw me with Adam and felt the need to explain some things."

"You talk to Ruby," Yang nudged her, wrinkling her nose.

Blake laughed. "We talk about books--"

"Smut."

"-- _books_ , Yang," Blake nudged her with a smile, "but not... anything personal. That would be a little awkward."

Yang nodded, figuring it would be. "So, me. Y'know, I haven't talked to Weiss about sex before, either."

"Have fun," Blake said dryly.

Yang grumbled, but cuddled closer. This was gonna suck.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> List of acts committed: light bondage (ribbon used to tie Blake's hands), vaginal fingering, oral sex.
> 
> Also, Weiss walks in on them mid-coitus. The current hypothesis is that they didn't close the door all the way, and Weiss basically just reached in to close it.


	62. Moving Forward II

Yang woke up to her scroll chirping.

_Weiss Cream: I apologize for last night. The door was cracked, and I was concerned. I should have knocked._

"Huh," Yang mumbled, blinking down at the screen. "That... was really easy."

Blake pulled her closer with a palm on her stomach, looking over her shoulder. She huffed into Yang's ear, then curled up against her again.

_Yangarang: nbd weiss! just dont ask to join cuz blake gets jealous  
Weiss Cream: I cannot believe I voluntarily associate with you._

"Do I want to know?" Blake asked, pressing a soft kiss to the back of Yang's neck. "You're snickering."

Yang wriggled against her, lacing her fingers with Blake's. "I told her you were the jealous type, so we couldn't have a threesome."

Blake huffed out a laugh. "She's going to kill you." She nipped Yang's shoulder. "And she's the jealous type, not me."

"Oh?" Yang reached over to set her scroll back on the bedside table. "So we could totally have a threesome?"

Blake's teeth sink into her shoulder. Yang moaned, caught between squirming away and arching into it.

"Saying I'm not enough for you?" Blake asked, keeping her in place with fingers curled tight around her hip.

"Just saying," Yang said, voice thin and breathy, "that Weiss is pretty hot when she's not ice. I know you've checked her out before."

"Yang," Blake said, half warning and half lust.

Yang guided Blake's hand lower. "You're not saying no."

Blake rolled her onto her stomach, biting at her neck. "Stop talking."

Laughing breathlessly, Yang did just that.

[*]

"Tomorrow's the day, huh?" Yang dropped down onto the bed next to Blake, her hair freshly washed and tumbled down around her shoulders.

"The Haven interview, yes," Blake agreed, slipping her scroll into a pocket.

Blake reached out, catching Yang's hand. She brought it up to her mouth, kissing the back. Yang smiled, warmth welling up in her chest.

"So... why are you still going, if we already know when Cinder's going to be here?"

"I might attend Haven anyway, when this is done," Blake said. "If the Headmaster had nothing to do with the attack on Vale."

Yang blinked. "Already thinking ahead, huh?"

Blake smiled wryly. "I can't not think ahead, Yang. I told you I want to come home to you." She flushed, but held Yang's eyes. "Have to pay for the home somehow."

Warmth and light welled up in her, so hot and strong Yang could barely breathe. God, she loved Blake so much.

"Aren't I supposed to be the one that rushes into stuff?" Yang managed, reaching out to brush her fingers over Blake's jaw.

"You said for better or for worse," Blake said, ducking her head.

"And I meant it," Yang murmured, shifting to sit in Blake's lap.

Blake wrapped her arms around Yang, yellow eyes soft. "I love you."

"I love you too--"

Yang's scroll chimed. She sighed. Blake kissed her, then nodded toward it. Yang sighed again, reaching over.

_Ice Cream Bitch: Still skittish, Blondie?_

"It's Neo," Yang grumbled, punching out a reply.

_Yangarang: still not sure I wanna owe u a favor  
Ice Cream Bitch: How about this, then: you give me my umbrella back, and owe me one unspecified, but totally legal favor._

Yang showed Blake the message. Blake tilted her head to the side, thinking.

"Add that you won't do anything against your family or team," Blake said. "If you still want to do this."

Yang nodded. "I do. Thanks, babe."

_Yangarang: one legal favor that doesnt hurt my family or team_  
_Ice Cream Bitch: Deal. Get me my umbrella, and owe me one unspecified, legal favor that doesn't hurt RWBY or your family._  
Yangarang: where do u want me to bring u ur umbrella  
Ice Cream Bitch: Have your girl bring it to Haven tomorrow. I'll find her on her way. 

Yang rolled her eyes. "She wants you to bring the umbrella with you to Haven tomorrow."

Blake raised an eyebrow. "It's not really in my colors."

"Everything is your color," Yang said, stealing a kiss. "Except puce."

"Puce?"

"No one looks good in puce."

Blake laughed, shaking her head.

_Yangarang: when do I get the pic  
Ice Cream Bitch: I'll leave it in an envelope with the front desk of your hotel._

Yang grumbled, but couldn't find anything wrong with the deal.

"C'mon," she said, standing, "let's go hit stuff."

[*]

It was a little bit awkward at the gym. Weiss couldn't meet either of their eyes, a flush coming to her pale skin when she saw them come in. Yang bit the inside of her cheek to keep from saying anything. Now that she wasn't actually naked on top of Blake with one of their best friends walking in on them, she kinda thought the whole thing was funny. But going by Blake's blush, and Weiss' huff, they didn't think so. Yang could hold back the jokes until it had been a little longer and she wouldn't be making anybody uncomfortable.

She still grabbed Weiss as a partner first, though. Weiss didn't talk about this stuff - Yang didn't figure Weiss was talking to anybody about something she wasn't talking to Blake about - but Yang could still let her know it was okay, that they were still good. And she could keep the jokes to herself. Even if it was hard.

"Hey," Yang said, as they squared off. She kept her voice low. "We're good, y'know?" She flashed Weiss a smile. "Just so long as you let me win."

Weiss huffed, Myrtenaster pointed towards the floor. "Of course you would try to blackmail me into losing, when we both know who is the superior fighter."

Yang narrowed her eyes. "Oh, you did not just."

With a smirk, Weiss flicked her wrist to call on a glyph. "I believe you'll find that I did." The flush returned to Weiss' cheeks, but she kept her chin high. "Think you're up for a real fight Xiao Long, or did you not get any sleep last night?"

Glaring, Yang flicked Ember Celica out over her arms. Weiss twitched a little, uncertainty coming into her eyes.

"Better watch yourself, Schnee," Yang smirked. "I've been getting a _lot_ of exercise lately."

It was a good fight. The conversation for this one - and Yang believed in all fights as conversations - was kinda like the way Yang had seen cats play-fight: they knocked each other around, not holding anything back, then paused every so often, watching. After making sure they were still good, they went back at it just as hard as before. Yang could tell they had an audience, but she couldn't take any time to look. It had been a while since she and Weiss really went at it, and it looked like the Atlesian military had been good for her sword skills.

When they called it - a draw - Yang threw an arm around Weiss' shoulders, grinning. "Good fight, Weissy!"

Weiss rolled her eyes, but took her time shrugging Yang off. "Of course it was. You may be utterly crass on occasion, but you aren't a terrible fighter."

"You hear that, Blake?" Yang turned Weiss loose, lacing her hands behind her head. "I'm not terrible."

Blake rolled her eyes affectionately, tapping Nora on the shoulder. Nora blinked in surprise, but followed Blake into the sparring ring anyway.

Yang winked at Weiss, and sidled on over to Ruby. Her sister cuddled into her, watching as Blake flowed circles around Nora, and the pink-haired girl laughed maniacally while spinning her hammer around.

"It's gonna be okay," Yang told Ruby, pulling her close.

"I know," Ruby whispered. "I trust you."

Yang clenched her abs to stop from shuddering under the weight of that trust. At the end of the day, her family was why she was here, was why she got out of the bed in the morning and kept fighting. She watched Blake and Nora spar, watched Ren and Jaune stretch out, watched Weiss refill Myrtenaster's chambers. They were her family, and she wasn't going to let them down.

No matter what.


	63. What You Leave Behind

When Yang got out of the shower the next morning, it was to a confused-looking Blake.

"Yang, did you... use my shampoo?"

Yang tilted her head. "Yeah? Should I not have?"

Blake shook her head. "No, just... you're going to smell like me."

Yang hesitated. She didn't want to ask if it was a faunus thing, but it kinda sounded like one.

"Anyone with a good enough sense of smell is going to scent my shampoo on both of us," Blake explained. "It's... about as obvious to some people as me leaving marks on your neck is to everyone else."

"Oh, okay," Yang said, relieved. She shrugged. "It doesn't bother me, but I can go borrow Ruby's real quick if you want? I mean, I only borrowed yours 'cause I'm out, or I'd just use mine."

"Not unless you want to," Blake said, yellow eyes dark.

Yang grinned. Blake could say she wasn't the jealous type all she wanted, but she sure seemed to like it when people could tell Yang was hers.

"Nope! I'm pretty okay smelling like you." Yang tilted her head to the side. "I probably do a lot anyway, with how often we end up cuddling."

Blake made a small noise in the back of her throat. "Come on. You get to explain to Weiss why we want Neopolitan's umbrella back."

Yang winced.

[*]

On their way to Weiss and Ruby's room, Yang stopped in her tracks.

"Yang?" Blake asked, tilting her head.

"Blake... did Neo talk to us, when she found us the other day?" Yang frowned. She was pretty sure the answer was yes, but she could use some backup.

Blake paused. "Yes, she did."

Yang whipped out her scroll, her frown turning into a scowl.

_Yangarang: if u could talk the whole time, y did u make us use sign lang_

"If she doesn't have a good answer, she's not getting her umbrella back," Yang said, setting her jaw.

_Ice Cream Bitch: It takes more energy and concentration than I had when you had me tied to a chair.  
Ice Cream Bitch: Kinky, by the way. I'm not much of an exhibitionist, though, so next time don't show me off to your friends._

Yang growled. From a lot of people, that would be funny. Neo, not so much. "Blake, what do you think?"

Blake read the messages, then rolled her head to the side. "She could be telling the truth. Some Semblance uses take more effort than others."

She wouldn't really know. Her Semblance had basically two settings: on fire, and so on fire she broke the color spectrum. The second one tired her out more if she stayed in it too long, but they both came easy as breathing. Blake would, though, and Yang took her word for it.

Yang nodded, and they headed back up to Weiss and Ruby's room.

"Yang?" Weiss frowned when she answered the door. "Is something wrong?"

Yang sighed, and they stepped inside.

Weiss stayed quiet through the explanation, though her eyebrow arched higher and higher.

"So," Weiss said, her eyes briefly flicking to Ruby's, "you're planning on bargaining with an internationally-wanted criminal in the hopes that she'll be able to furnish information on your... absentee mother."

Yang winced, but nodded. That was probably the nicest way Weiss could put it.

The other girl sighed. "And I imagine you've exhausted your legal, reasonable options?"

"Yeah." That was something Yang was completely sure about.

A pause. Then, "Ruby, where have we been keeping Neopolitan's umbrella?"

Ruby scrambled off to grab it, and Yang sagged a little in relief. She flashed Weiss a thankful smile, and the other girl flicked her fingers dismissively.

While Ruby rummaged, Blake came up on Yang's side, pressing her lips to Yang's cheek. Yang smiled, stroking her hand down Blake's arm.

"Here," Ruby said, handing Blake the umbrella. Blake raised an eyebrow down at it, but tucked it into her coat. Yang liked that coat more and more every day.

Ruby wrapped her arms around Yang's waist, hugging her tight. Yang hugged her back just as tightly, kissing the top of Ruby's head.

"What's up, little sis?" Yang asked.

"Nothing," Ruby lied. Even if Ruby could lie with her voice, she sucked at lying with her face, and she was still clinging to Yang.

"Ruby...." Yang carded her fingers through Ruby's hair.

"You know you don't need Raven, right?" Ruby finally let her go, stepping back.

Yang stepped forward to hug Ruby again. "Of course I know. God, Rubes, you guys are all the family I need, promise. I just... I have to know. I have to know why she left."

Dad never talked about it. He said she left, and his face hardened with a mix of grief and pain and anger, and neither she nor Ruby ever asked after that. She knew he and Qrow still argued about it sometimes, could read the way Qrow's face went tight when they'd been talking about Raven, but she never heard anything new. Raven was around sometimes when Yang and Ruby weren't, Yang could sometimes smell her perfume or whatever it was, but she hadn't seen her in person before the train, and hadn't seen her again after. She had to know. She had to understand. And if Raven didn't want to tell her... Yang clenched her fist. She'd make her.

"Be careful, okay?" Ruby looked up at her, worrying her lip in-between her teeth.

"'Course," Yang said, ruffling her hair before letting her go.

"Walk me to the door?" Blake asked quietly. Yang turned to her, nodding, and followed Blake out.


	64. Family Ties III

Jaune turned away to give them some privacy when Yang caught Blake up in a tight hug.

She wanted to go with her so badly. She wanted to watch from the stands, or the sidelines, or whatever, and be there in case something went wrong. There was no guarantee they wouldn't put Blake up against a guy who could cut right through her Aura, and Yang wanted to be there as her backup. She couldn't, though. As far as they knew, Cinder didn't know they were all there. If she had someone at Haven, she knew that Blake was applying to go there, probably knew that Blake had Jaune with her. She didn't need to know that Yang was there too.

(And... it might hurt Blake's chances of getting in to have Yang with her. Yang shied away from the thought.)

"Be careful," Yang said fiercely, pulling away.

"Always, Yang," Blake promised.

Yang watched them go, heart in her throat. When they were out of view, she swallowed, turning back to the hotel.

[*]

The day went by so, so slow.

Yang went to the gym with Nora and Ruby - Weiss and Ren were doing that investigating Weiss had talked about - but her heart wasn't really in it. Blake kept up a steady stream of texts while she was waiting for the combat portion of her interview, but then she went silent.

_Jaunedice: Shes fighting a girl_

The breath wheezed out of Yang's chest.

"She's not up against the Lionheart guy!" Yang announced. Ruby whizzed over to her, and Nora bounced to stand at her side.

"That's good, right? He's the guy that cuts through Aura and stuff?" Nora asked.

"And ignores Semblances, yeah," Yang said, messaging Jaune back a thanks.

"Good," Ruby said. "Blake could totally take him, but he sounds like a jerk."

Yang jumped back into her drills with much more enthusiasm, and they all worked on their stuff until she got a text from Blake saying she and Jaune were on their way back.

Blake was waiting for her in the room, and the first thing Yang did was wrap her arms around Blake's neck and kiss her.

"Not that I'm complaining," Blake said, sounding a little dazed, "but....?"

"I'm happy you're safe," Yang said, staying close. Blake's hands slid up the back of her shirt, resting on either side of her spine. Yang hummed happily. "How did the interview go?"

Blake made a face. "The fight was... difficult. The girl they pitted me against had some sort of motion-blur Semblance. I won, but it gave me a headache."

"'Course you did," Yang grinned. "Want me to turn out the lights?"

Blake shook her head. "It's better now. They said they'd let me know, but I know I did well on the written."

"And you won the fight," Yang said. "How many people do that, y'think?"

Chuckling, Blake said, "Probably not many."

Yang kissed her again. "Nope, probably not. C'mere, we're celebrating."

Blake tilted her head. "Celebrating?" Yang pushed her coat off of her shoulders. "O-oh." Yang giggled, and started in on the rest.

After that, Yang checked her scroll. It had buzzed during the celebration, but only once, so she had ignored it.

_Weiss Cream: The front desk gave me an envelope addressed to, and I quote, 'Blonde with the big tits c/o Weiss Schnee'._

Yang rolled her eyes. Neo.

_Yangarang: I'll come up for it in a sec._

Blake kissed the back of her neck, one hand stroking down her spine. She didn't ask, but Yang could feel the question without her saying it out loud.

"Neo's picture just got here," Yang said, rolling over to face Blake.

"Mm." Blake traced the line of her jaw. "Are we going to get it?"

Yang couldn't help but smile. It wasn't even a question to Blake that they'd be doing this together. "Yeah."

Blake brushed their lips together, then rolled off of her side of the bed. "Should probably shower...." She threw Yang a look over her shoulder.

"Probably should." Yang said, tracing her eyes over Blake's back.

Blake disappeared into the bathroom with a sway in her hips that Yang knew was on purpose. She got to her feet, shoved her thoughts of the whole situation to the back of her mind, and followed.

[*]

Yang glared down at the paper in her hand. It had two different pictures on it: one of a swordswoman stepping through a hole ripped in the air, the other of her with her weapon raised in a clear threat. Yang didn't know much about the tribe Qrow and Raven were from, but enough to recognize the mask. Between that and the picture Qrow still carried....

She took a picture of it on her scroll, and sent it to both Taiyang and Qrow. Let them deal with that.

"It's her, then?" Weiss asked. When Yang looked up, Weiss was studying her face, lips pursed.

"Yeah," Yang said, folding the picture and pocketing it. "That's her."

"She looks...." Ruby flapped a hand, screwing up her face.

Yang snorted. "Yeah, kinda."

"Intimidating is the word," Weiss said.

It wasn't the word Yang would use.

Her scroll chirped, but she was sure it was her dad, or Qrow, so she ignored it. They could wait. Neither of them ever wanted to tell her anything about Raven, and they could deal with her doing the same thing right back.

Yang glanced to Blake, only for her gaze to stick at the look on Blake's face. "Babe?"

"She looks... familiar. Not her, but... something about her clothes." Blake frowned, then shook her head. "It's probably nothing."

Blake didn't make those kinds of mistakes. Yang was good at getting people to talk, or at least distracting them with her cleavage, but Blake had the memory for stuff. Yang frowned, but let it go.

"What now?" Ruby asked quietly.

"Now..." Yang sighed. "Now, we deal with Cinder."

The others nodded.

"Speaking of that," Weiss said, "Ren and I have an engagement tonnight."

Something about Weiss and Ren being engaged teased at Yang's thoughts, but she let it go. She needed to punch something, she was pretty sure. Or scream. Either one sounded good.

"Try not cause a scandal," Blake said dryly, slipping her hand into Yang's.

Weiss rolled her eyes. "Unlike certain teammates of mine, I am entirely capable of conducting myself properly in front of company."

"Hey!" Ruby said, glaring.

Weiss smirked. "Interesting that you assume I'm talking about you."

Ruby sputtered. Blake held back snickers. Even Yang couldn't help but crack a smile.

They broke apart after that, Yang and Blake heading back to their room.

"After all this," Blake said, taking Yang's hand again and kissing the back of it, "we'll look for her."

Yang smiled tiredly. " _We_ , huh?"

Blake's face dropped for a second. Then she raised her chin. "I'm not letting you go after her alone."

Yang stepped forward, wrapping her arms around Blake's shoulders. "Good."

"Good?" Blake's hands settled at the small of her back.

"Good," Yang repeated, kissing her cheek. "I want you with me."

They'd seen the broken parts of one another, the jagged parts, the hurts that hadn't healed. And somehow, they'd made it work, made them work. Yang would never stop being grateful for that.

"I will be," Blake promised. "For as long as you want me."

Yang kissed her, slow and sweet. When they broke apart, Blake settled into her, smiling against her neck.

"Always," Yang whispered. "Always."


	65. Severed Ties

"Hey, Blake?" Yang kept her arms wrapped around her girlfriend, curling tighter against her on their bed. "Tell me about Adam?"

Blake stiffened.

"About his Semblance," Yang added quickly. That was safe, she figured.

Blake relaxed, cuddling into her again. "He could cut through anything."

Yang waited, but that was all Blake said. "What, that's it?"

Her girlfriend chuckled. "Not everyone lights themselves on fire."

Yang pinched Blake's side. Blake yelped, burrowing into her.

"But that... that's really it, huh?" Yang frowned. "I guess... that explains what happened."

Explained why he could cut through her Aura like it wasn't there. It wasn't, to him. It eased something in her, knowing that there was no way she could have known, nothing she could have done. She still... she still would have lost her arm.

"He needed time to charge for bigger things, or tougher ones," Blake said, "but that was it. He could cut through metal, Aura... bone."

Yang flinched, stroking a hand down Blake's back. Blake pulled back, yellow eyes worried. Yang shook her head. "I'm fine. It... helps to know."

Blake made a small sound in the back of her throat. They stayed wound around one another until Yang's scroll chimed again. She sighed. Probably Taiyang or Qrow, whichever one didn't message her earlier.

Yang reached over Blake to grab the scroll, sliding it open.

_Dad: Where did you get this picture?_

In a separate message:

_Drunkle Qrow: what the fuck Raven_

Well. That pretty much told her who to be mad at.

_Yangarang: a friend. dad did u kno_

She thought a little longer before sending Qrow a message. He kept stuff from her too, but less.

_Yangarang: I dont kno. that was from the train_

"Dad's gonna be weird," Yang grumbled, palming her scroll. "He never tells me anything about her. I don't know why I thought this would be different."

Blake stroked a hand down her back. "What happened between them?"

Yang sighed. "I don't know all of it. I know they got together soon after STRQ graduated, had me... and then Raven disappeared. A couple years later he and Summer had Ruby, then got married. She died. I guess Raven started coming around sometimes after that." She snorted. "Never while me or Ruby were around. I just sometimes... could smell her perfume in the air. Or he'd have... a bitemark..." She made a face. "And I knew it wasn't from some random one-night stand."

Blake nodded. Yang's scroll chimed again, but she really didn't feel like dealing with it. She tossed the thing up onto the bedside table, pulling Blake closer.

"Nap time?" She mumbled against Blake's hair.

"Mm," Blake agreed. "Nap time."

[*]

Yang was right, and Taiyang didn't say anything about Raven. Yang didn't say anything about her, either. Taiyang kept avoiding her questions, so she could avoid his, too. It felt a little childish, but if Raven was gonna come in on her life like that, Taiyang couldn't avoid that stuff any more. It wasn't just about him, not if Raven was coming back from wherever she'd been to save Yang. He didn't agree, so she didn't tell him where she'd seen the picture.

"Come hit things with me," Blake offered, after the third time Yang growled and tossed her scroll to the side.

Yang dug the heels of her hands into her eyes, then nodded. "Wait. It's getting kinda late...?"

"The gym is open whenever we need it, Weiss said." Blake said.

Yang stood, reaching for Ember Celica. "Then yeah, let's go."

[*]

Yang took out her frustrations on some punching bags until she felt steady enough to spar with Blake.

Neither of them really went at one another. The spar was more about movement, about out-running the shit that Yang couldn't out-think or out-fight. She let Blake set the pace, let her pick if they used Semblances or not. Blake took it easy on her as much as she ever did, just her sword against Yang's gauntlets.

Before long, Yang stopped, sweat pouring from her skin. She swayed on her feet, black spots flickering along the edge of her vision. Across from her, Blake sheathed her sword. Yang pulsed Aura to retract her gauntlets.

"Sit down," Blake told her. Yang collapsed on the spot, hitting her ass on the concrete with a grunt. Blake sighed, but brought her a water bottle. "I meant on a chair."

"Shoulda been more specific," Yang mumbled, sipping at the water bottle. She wanted to drain it all at once, but she also really didn't want to puke it back up.

Blake snorted. "I should know that by now, with you." She sat next to Yang, leaning their shoulders together. "The concrete is cold."

Yang made herself finish the water bottle before she replied. "Could always sit in my lap."

Her girlfriend gave her an amused look. "How are you still flirting right now?"

Yang shrugged, crunching the water bottle into a disc. "You make it easy."

Blake stood, offering Yang a hand. "How about we get back to the hotel, and if you still feel like flirting after food and a shower, I'll sit in your lap however you want me."

That got Yang's attention despite the trembling in her muscles and her definite tiredness. "However I want you, huh?"

"C'mon," Blake said, a smile pulling at the corner of her mouth, "food and shower first."

[*]

After they ate and showered, Yang still wanted Blake in her lap, but not for anything sexy. She just wanted to hold her tonight, wanted solid proof that Blake was alive and well and with her.

Blake nuzzled into her, running her hands through Yang's damp hair and pressing close. Yang sighed, her eyes slipping shut. Blake's scent surrounded her, familiar and comforting.

When sleep pulled at her too hard for her to ignore, Yang rearranged them so she could actually fall asleep without hating herself in the morning.

"Love you," Yang murmured into Blake's hair.

"I love you too, Yang," Blake returned.

Yang smiled right down into sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [Note: This is still a slight AU, though this divergence was accidental. I forgot that Qrow tells Yang about Raven's intervention in V3, then I wrote in plot points that were based on her not knowing. So, consider that part of the AU!]


	66. Lies And Statistics

The next week passed in a blur. Weiss and Ren went out to try finding information about Cinder, the rest of the team trained and sometimes went out into the city just to explore.

Yang tried to ignore the itch under her skin that came from the situation they were in. It was one thing back at Beacon, when they didn't know they were at a time limit. Now that she knew there were people out there that could strike at any moment, she got restless, almost anxious. Blake, too, she could tell. They did what they could for each other - they all did - but more and more often Yang had to tire herself out at the gym, and Blake went rooftop-running with Ruby in the small hours of the night.

"I got a message from Haven," Blake said, tapping the bridge of Yang's nose to get her attention.

Yang looked up at Blake, letting her scroll rest on her stomach. Her girlfriend sat propped up against the headboard, her scroll in one hand. Her other hand had been drawing aimless patterns on Yang's skin as she laid in Blake's lap.

"Yeah?" Yang asked, not sure if she should grin yet.

"I got accepted," Blake told her, with a satisfied smile. "Acceptance is good for one year, after which I would have to reapply."

"That's great!" Yang pulled her down for a kiss. "Think you'll go next semester?"

Blake tilted her head to the side thoughtfully. "If I can, I might. I don't know where you'll be, yet."

" _We_ ," Yang kissed her again, firmer, "can be here, if you want."

The look on Blake's face just about stopped Yang's heart. She looked shy, hesitant, like she couldn't really believe what Yang said. "Yeah?"

"I want to be where you are," Yang said, "and I want you to be happy. If you're happy here, that's where we'll be."

Blake froze, only her eyes moving as she studied Yang's face. Then she lunged, pulling Yang up and into a hungry kiss.

"I love you," she murmured against Yang's mouth, shifting so she could lay on top of her.

"Babe?" Yang pulled back, only for Blake to chase her back down, kissing her again.

"Let me touch you." Blake lifted herself up on her elbows.

Yang nodded, wrapping her arms around Blake. "Yeah. Yeah, okay."

[*]

Later, Yang got a message from Neo. It wasn't too weird for her to get them sometimes; even though they really didn't have much to talk about, Neo still dropped her little taunting messages, or random selfies of her doing... whatever it was she was doing. Yang couldn't really tell, and didn't know where the pictures were taken, either.

_Ice Cream Bitch: You know her, don't you? Your scary sugar momma._

Yang rolled her eyes.

_Yangarang: dont think weiss would like u saying shes not the scary one_  
_Ice Cream Bitch: Oh, so your sugar mommas know you're playing them? ;) Ice Cream Bitch: And don't think I didn't notice you dodging the question. You know her. The woman from the train._

The only two responses that came to mind were punching Neo in the face, or saying 'bitch I might' and neither of them were helpful.

_Yangarang: y do u care  
Ice Cream Bitch: Oh, just thought you might want to know that I've seen her before._

Yang clenched her jaw. Neo had waited this long to tell her that? When Yang obviously cared enough to trade Neo a nearly-open favor just for a picture of her?

_Yangarang: where_  
_Ice Cream Bitch: So it matters to you? Yangarang: do u rly want to fuck w/me on this? we dont have to tell u what were doing at the festival Ice Cream Bitch: It's cute that you think you don't need me. Or did you forget that you still don't know what Cinder looks like right now, or even what she's looked like in the past?_

Yang chucked her scroll across the room.

"Yang?" Blake looked up from where she'd been taking care of her hair.

Yang turned into the pillow, letting out a muffled scream of frustration. She could hear her heartbeat thudding in her ears, and her Semblance pulsed just below the surface. There wasn't anything to fight, but that didn't matter. She wanted to wreck something.

She felt the bed dip beside her, felt Blake's presence. Yang jerked her hand out and toward the scroll, giving Blake her permission to look at it.

Blake's presence retreated, moving across the room. Yang heard the click as her scroll opened, then a sigh after Blake read the messages.

"She's riling you up on purpose," Blake said quietly, coming back to sit next to her.

"I know," Yang grumped, turning her head to look at Blake with one eye. "It's working."

Her scroll chimed. Yang buried her face in the pillow again when Blake offered it to her.

"She says that Raven has met with Cinder before, and that Cinder didn't look happy when she left." There was a frown in Blake's voice, and Yang growled out frustration.

"Of course she has. She can't just be my deadbeat mom, she has to show up out of nowhere and scare the shit out of the girl I lost to, and then turn out to be working with the other side." None of this was helping Yang's temper, or helping her gain control over her Semblance.

"Neopolitan could be lying," Blake offered.

"Why would she?" Yang asked, rolling onto her back and hugging the pillow to her chest. "If we can't trust her, we don't have to cut her in on the action."

"Because it's a lie that gets you mad," Blake said simply, "and one you can't prove is a lie."

"I could ask Dad," Yang said. They both knew she could, but it wouldn't help.

"As fond as I am of Taiyang," Blake said dryly, "I still don't think he would let anyone into his home if he knew they were working with terrorists. So either he doesn't know, or she isn't."

Yang sighed, curling onto her side again and pressing her forehead against Blake's thigh. "Yeah, that... that makes sense."

"No point in getting worked up about it, Yang," Blake said gently, running her fingers through Yang's hair. "You can't know for sure. And Raven wouldn't have saved you from Neopolitan if she were completely in line with their goals."

Yang nodded, wrapping her arms around Blake's leg. "I love you, y'know."

"I know," Blake said. Then she nudged Yang's scroll into her arm. "Look. Ruby sent pictures."

Taking her scroll back, Yang peeked over Blake's leg. Sure enough, Ruby and Nora were making crazy faces, then there were a few pictures from Jaune of them playing in a fountain. She laughed, flipping through them. Her scroll dinged again with a group chat message, and Yang squeaked when she saw it was a picture from Blake of Yang clinging to Blake's leg. The caption read, _'I think I have a growth'_.

"Babe," Yang whined, making grabby hands at Blake's scroll.

Blake grinned, setting herself up for another picture. Yang lunged. Blake skittered backward. They wrestled, Blake getting a few blurry shots of Yang's hand, or her hair, until finally Yang just pinned her arms, breathing heavily.

"Here I thought we did this earlier," Blake said dryly.

Yang tilted her head. Then it clicked, and she blushed. 

"What," Yang asked, trying to control the heat in her face, "are you complaining?"

Blake shrugged. "No. But if you still have all this energy, I must not have done a very good job."

Yang smirked. "Maybe I just have more stamina than you thought I did."

Her girlfriend laughed, shifting to lace their fingers together. Her scroll dropped to the floor, and both of them ignored it. "I've learned not to underestimate you, Yang."

"You say that, but you still lost this one." Yang shook her head, clicking her tongue against her teeth.

Blake smirked. "What did I lose? Because it looks like I got my hot girlfriend on top of me, holding me down and implying she's going to take my clothes off."

Yang's jaw dropped. "You played me."

The smirk stayed in place. "I'd like to."

A thin, high-pitched noise escaped Yang's throat, and her face heated even further. She had no idea how, but she was somehow both turned on and embarassed.

"Get your smooth self down here and cuddle me," Blake laughed.

Yang grumbled, but did.


	67. The Question of Cinder Fall

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The conversation referenced here can be found in Chapter Fifty-Five "The Question of Neopolitan II".

"So, what are we doing at the Kaleidescope Festival?"

Ruby's question stopped them all dead in their tracks. It's not like they didn't know they needed to have this talk. They didn't even get through the one about Neo, or the one afterward about Cinder. Ren had suggested they leave it until they found Cinder, which... they did. Kinda. If they took Neo's word for it.

"I'm not even sure there's anything to be done there," Weiss said, folding her arms over her chest. "We've yet to find any evidence to support Neopolitan's claims."

"It's the only lead we've got," Blake said quietly.

"Kinda thin," Nora said hesitantly.

Yang flipped open her scroll.

_Yangarang: look we cant just take ur word on this nemore. need some proof cinders been here._

When she looked back up from it, the rest of the room was looking at her.

"What?" Yang asked, whipping her head back and forth to look from face to face.

"Uh," Ruby tilted her head to the side. "Who are you messaging?"

Yang's scroll chimed.

_Ice Cream Bitch: One of her aliases is Coral Pink. It's obviously fake, but people like her too much to call her on it. She looks exactly how you'd think she would. ;)_  
Ice Cream Bitch: Another is Rue Farrah. Dark hair, red eyes, dresses in blood reds and black, always has some six-foot pretty boy with a halberd with her.  
Ice Cream Bitch: I'll send pictures later. 

When Yang repeated the names and descriptions out loud, Weiss sighed.

"Yes, I've heard of those people. And..." She frowned, thinking for a few seconds. "I don't think they've ever been seen in the same place at the same time. Or even the same season. I'll have to check, but those are... potentially correct."

"So," Jaune said, "she was here. Or... she might be, soon."

Silence fell. Uncomfortable looks went around the room. Yang didn't want to say it, still didn't know how she felt about it, but she couldn't help thinking that they'd have to... kill Cinder Fall. She'd killed too many people, without any kind of remorse, and they couldn't just put her in jail. She was too strong for that.

"We're going to have to kill her," Blake said softly, echoing Yang's thoughts.

Conflict rippled through everyone else. Weiss nodded, that cold, hard look in her eyes. Jaune's jaw clenched, but he didn't say a word against her. Ren's face went neutral, though he watched Nora's obvious upset out of the corner of his eye. Ruby's mouth kept opening and closing, like she objected but couldn't find a good way to say it.

The first one to speak was Jaune. "I think so, too."

Weiss raised her chin, glacial. "I agree."

"Yeah, I think we have to," Yang admitted.

"Do we..." Ruby stopped, swallowed. "Do we have to?"

Yang walked over to her, wrapping her arms around her younger sister's shoulders. "I think so, Rubes."

"Does it have to be us?" Nora whispered.

Ren said something to her, low and calm, but Yang wasn't listening. Ruby's breathing came fast and shallow, her heart beating bird-quick. Yang held her close, swaying on her feet.

Ruby clung to her, burying her face in Yang's neck. "I don't want to kill anyone."

Yang didn't know what to say.

[*]

_Yangarang: we need u here_

Yang couldn't look at the message after she'd sent it. She felt wrung out, exhausted, the weight of their decision pulling down her shoulders. Not everyone had agreed out loud, but she knew they were going to do it, if they could. They were going to kill Cinder Fall.

It felt like it should have been a bigger deal than it was. She didn't... she didn't care like she thought she should.

The response came in - _'Be there soon'_ \- and Yang set her scroll to the side. Blake buried her face in Yang's chest, and Yang stroked fingers through her girlfriend's hair. They hadn't said a word since coming back from Weiss and Ruby's room.

"How did you kill Adam?"

Blake's head jerked upward, her eyebrows coming together and mouth dropping slightly open.

"I-I mean I don't want the story, I just meant--"

Two cool fingers came to rest over her lips, and Yang quieted.

"I know what you meant," Blake said gently, pulling her hand back. "And I... I didn't have a choice. If I'd left him alive, in the hands of the police... the White Fang would come for him, and keep coming. And I..." She looked down, jaw clenched. "It was the only way I knew you'd be safe." A beat, then, "And Ruby, and Weiss, but... you. Mostly you."

Yang traced her fingers over Blake's cheekbones, down to the line of her jaw. She still didn't know what to do with this, with someone who loved her enough to kill a threat to her. It was a little scary, but... she knew Blake wouldn't go that far with anything else, for any other reason. She trusted her.

"If we leave Cinder alive, she won't stop." 

Saying it felt like more of a committment than talking about it with the whole group had. Like admitting it locked her in, put her on this path. She didn't want to kill. She believed that people deserved second chances. But Cinder had done terrible things that she planned way in advance, that she knew would end up... the way they did. And she wasn't going to stop. She could disguise herself, had all of her own powers plus being a Maiden. She could retire, could probably talk someone rich out of all ther money and just... she didn't have to be this way. She chose it. And her choices were putting people in danger. Killing them. She had to be stopped.

"No, she won't," Blake agreed softly.

Yang shuddered, burying her face in Blake's neck. It shouldn't have to be them.


	68. Clearing The Air

They didn't talk about it, killing Cinder. They trained, they ate together, they walked the city. Weiss and Ren went to snooty people parties, Blake and Yang still sometimes combed the Mistrali underground just in case someone showed up.

Weiss called a team meeting not long into their period of not talking.

"Ren and I suspect that Cinder may have acquired CRDL after the Fall of Beacon."

Flinches and winces went around the room. Yang clenched her teeth. No one was really over what had happened there, and it wasn't going to go away any time soon. She forced herself to focus on Weiss' news, not the echoes of her nightmares.

"Why would she want them?" Nora asked, breaking the abrupt silence.

Weiss scoffed. "Like seeking like? Even unskilled hands being acceptable when she's burned her bridges?"

"Why do you think they're with her?" Blake asked. "Mistral is a long way to come."

"She at least has Sky Lark," Weiss said. "A six foot teenager with blue hair and a rifle-polearm isn't exactly a common descriptor. And one of the people her other alter ego has been seen with sounds like Cardin."

Jaune growled, crossing his arms over his chest. Nora laid a hand on his arm. Yang couldn't blame him for feeling like he had a score to settle with the guy; he'd bullied Jaune relentlessly back at Beacon.

"They're assholes, but they're not the worst fighters," Yang said, "and Sky's mist would make any fight a lot harder."

The rest of CRDL had pretty normal Semblances - fire, flight, boosting teammates - but Sky Lark's Semblance was a mist that made you hallucinate. He wasn't allowed to use it during spars at Beacon because he couldn't control how far it spread out or who it affected, but if he was fighting alongside Cinder he probably wouldn't care if anyone else got affected.

"The fight will be difficult," Ren said.

"Yeah," Nora agreed, "the last time was... bad. Really bad."

Yang shuddered, failing to hide it. Yeah, it had been bad to the tune of one lost friend, one lost arm, and one destroyed school.

Yang jerked to her feet. "I'm gonna get some air."

"Yang, wait!" For the first time, Yang didn't look back when her sister called for her.

She ended up on the roof, legs danging over the edge, butt slowly going numb from the concrete. Her arm gleamed in the corner of her eye. She didn't look at it.

The roof door creaked open. Footsteps approached, and a heavy weight settled down beside her. Yang focused on her breathing.

"How did you know I was up here?"

"It's what I would have done," Jaune said.

The old Jaune wouldn't have known where to find her. If he'd stumbled on her by accident, he would have rambled awkwardly until she either left or told him to go away. Yang liked this Jaune better, even if she hated how he got this way.

"You and Blake, huh?"

Yang snorted. "Yeah."

It wasn't news, but she let him bring it up like it was. Better than talking about other stuff.

"Ren was surprised it wasn't you and Weiss."

Yang blinked at him. "What?"

Jaune shrugged. "You've got the whole fire and ice thing going, I guess. He said something about you two being really compatible once you stopped fighting. Besides," he tried on a half-smile, "if she turned me down, she must be gay, right?"

Yang narrowed her eyes. "No."

He sighed. "I know. That stuff I did back at Beacon, asking her out over and over again when she said no... that was messed up." Yang's jaw dropped. "When we were in Vacuo, one of my sisters sent me a message about some guy that had been bothering her. I got really mad, and then Ruby pointed out that it sounded just like me, back at Beacon. Before...."

Before everything.

Yang spared them both having to talk about it: "You, Nora, and Ren, huh?"

Jaune huffed out a laugh, turning to stare out into the city. The wind caught wisps of his hair and dragged them over his face.

"Kind of?" He rubbed the back of his head. "There's a lot of... y'know... but it's not really..." He waved a hand. "Ren's gay." He said it like that explained everything.

Yang leaned back on her hands. "So? Poly exists. Date them both."

She expected him to ask what poly was, or say he wasn't. Instead, he laughed.

"Oh, I know. Pyrrha has six grandparents, and it's not because anybody got divorced." The smile fell from his face. "Had six grandparents, I guess."

"She was Mistrali, right?" Yang frowned, trying to remember. "She said she went to Sanctum."

Jaune started, looking over at her. "Uh, yeah, she was. Why?"

The words came out of her mouth before she could stop them. "You could probably visit her moms, if you wanted to. It might help."

"What would I even say?" He clenched his jaw, chin falling to his chest. "I fucked up. I couldn't defend their daughter, and I'm still not good enough to take out the woman who killed her."

Yang exhaled slowly, closing her eyes. "When Dad finally admitted Mom wasn't coming back and let them drop the missing persons case, a bunch of Hunters came by the house. There wasn't an actual ceremony or anything, but they'd stop in with something, food or a picture, and they'd tell stories about her. Dad got really drunk that night, but I could tell it helped."

Jaune sighed. "Yeah. Maybe I'll go."

They stared out into the city for a while. Yang still didn't really have Mistral figured out. She liked it anyway. Some people needed to keep their judgey eyes to themselves, but Yang liked the graffiti, the street performers, the food. She could see herself having a lot of good fights here, if Blake wanted to stay.

(If they both survived round two with Cinder.)

"C'mon," Yang said, standing. "I bet we can get them to talk about strategy."

"Yeah, okay."

Jaune followed behind her, and Yang wondered when they'd gotten close enough for her to feel his presence.


	69. Course of Action II

When Yang and Jaune came back into the room, the conversation stopped. Yang sat back down next to Blake, Jaune took the couch with Ren and Nora. Blake took Yang's hand, Nora leaned into Jaune.

"So, we're going to need some help," Yang said.

Ruby blew air out through her cheeks. "We've needed help this entire time. Who's gonna come now when nobody would before?"

"Before," Blake said quietly, "you were chasing shadows. Now we know where she's going to be."

"Assuming anyone is willing to take Neopolitan's word," Weiss said, crossing her arms. "As much as I hate to admit it, Sky Lark could just have a...."

"Sugar momma?" Yang suggested, smirking.

" _Benefactor_." Weiss rolled her eyes. "Having an attractive young lover is in fashion."

Ruby made a face, and the corner of Jaune's eye twitched.

"The point is," Weiss continued, "that we have no proof Cinder Fall is in Mistral. I do not doubt it myself, but I can see how someone else would."

Silence fell, as each of them digested that. Yang knew she could get Taiyang to come - keeping him away would be harder, if he got wind of what was going on - but other than that? She didn't really have any aces in the hole. She never thought she'd need one.

Before anyone could say anything, something hit the door. The entire room twitched. Another impact, this time tapping in a distinct knock-knock-knock rhythm. Yang grinned, bouncing to her feet and opening up the door.

Qrow Branwen walked in.

"So what'd I miss?"

[*]

"You're thinking about this the wrong way."

Qrow lounged on one of the seats after introductions went around and Yang and Ruby claimed their hugs.

"You don't need to convince anyone of anything right now. You just need to invite all your friends to the Kaleidescope Festival."

Weiss frowned. "But how can we convince them--"

Qrow waved a hand. "You've got over two weeks to find proof. If nothing else, you can always gank her at the Festival and let that sort itself out. Even Amber couldn't hold an illusion like that while she was fighting, and this girl's no Amber."

"Who is Amber?" Nora asked.

Qrow blinked once, then twice. "You don't know who Amber is? Was."

Everyone shook their heads.

He sighed. "Alright. Well, we don't have time for the whole damn story, but Amber was the last Fall Maiden. She had her powers for twenty years; Cinder's not gonna outdo her any time soon."

"Do you know who the other Maidens are?" Nora asked, leaning forward.

Yang made herself not look at Weiss. It would be way too obvious that Weiss knew something about the Winter Maiden, and if she hadn't told the rest of the group, there had to be a good reason for it.

Qrow snorted. "I know who Spring and Fall are. Spring won't be helping us any time soon."

Weiss frowned. "Isn't this their job?"

"Depends on who you ask." Qrow dug in one of his pockets, producing a well-worn flask. He drained about half of it before continuing, "According to Ozpin, their only 'job' is to keep themselves secret so nobody knows who to kill to get the power of the gods."

Blake shifted. "They're not gods."

Qrow flicked a hand. "Look, Belladonna, gods are anybody who can stop other people from saying they're not. Most of the time, the only person who can kill a Maiden is another Maiden. Even Oz didn't think anybody could take down Amber, and he had backup plans for his backup plans. I don't like asking you kids to be the front line against Cinder, but this is the best opportunity we're going to have to take her down."

"Do you... know of any way to just..." Nora swallowed. "Do we have to kill her?"

"Yep." Qrow finished off the flask. "If there's a way to lock a Maiden up or hold her down, I've never heard of it."

Ruby bit her lip. "Uncle Qrow...."

Qrow shrugged, pocketing the flask again. "That's how the world is sometimes, Ruby. She stopped being worth your pity the second she decided to try killing everyone in Beacon."

Nobody said anything after that. Yang bit the inside of her cheek to stop from saying something to Ruby. She was caught between wanting to help her sister, and not wanting to lie to her. She had just decided on going to her, when Qrow stood up.

"I'll do it. None of you should have to." He cracked his neck. "Just back me up when it comes time."

Qrow walked to the door, then looked over his shoulder. "Hey, Ruby, Yang. Come keep your uncle company while he gets lunch, wouldja?"

Yang squeezed Blake's hand and rose to follow her uncle. Unease sat heavy in her gut, and for once she didn't know if Qrow could lift it.


	70. Lifting Your Chin

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tags added: "Qrow Branwen", "sprinkles of vol 5 in strange places"

Yang bit her lip as she and Ruby trailed after Qrow. Everything felt wrong. She'd already know they'd have to kill Cinder, but somehow talking to Qrow about it felt final. Like by talking to him about it made it a reality. Qrow saying he'd do it didn't feel right either. It was a relief, but somehow felt wrong.

Qrow led them out of the hotel and down the street. "I haven't been back to Mistral in a while. Wonder if that noodle place is still here."

Any other day, Yang would pounce on that, demanding Qrow tell stories about Mistral. Not now. Not today. She couldn't go back to the girl who had never thought about taking a life.

Qrow glanced back at them. What he saw made him frown and lead them into an alley.

"Look, it's understandable that you're uncomfortable with this. Tai and I, we tried to teach you to respect life. To only use your weapons against Grimm." He shook his head, sighing. "You took oaths when you enrolled in Beacon, right? To defend humanity?"

Yang and Ruby both nod.

"That girl betrayed those oaths, if she ever took them. There's no way to hold people on her level. Even if we knocked her out somehow, we'd have to have someone else like her on constant guard duty."

"You said you knew where..." Ruby's face contorted as she tried to find a way to talk around the word. They were off the main road but still in public, after all. "Um. You said you knew about one of them?"

Qrow snorted. "Like I said, she's a bitch. I'll send her a message, but I doubt she'll show. She definitely wouldn't be willing to guard that girl. She'd kill her first."

The urge to tell Qrow about Winter tugged at Yang. Yang didn't know if Winter would want to help guard Cinder if they could even capture her, but she was pretty sure Weiss could talk her into coming to help them out. But it wasn't her secret to tell.

Ruby deflated, eyes dropping to the ground. Yang stepped in, wrapping an arm around her sister's shoulders.

"I guess it's just us, then," Ruby mumbled.

"No," Yang said, before Qrow could say anything. "It won't be just us. We're gonna call Dad, Blake and Weiss are gonna call SSSN and Winter, and I know Ren used to spar with Yatsuhashi. Help is going to come. We just have to trust them."

"I don't know about Schnee coming," Qrow drawled, "but Tai and I can call in a few favors. He might be able to find Goodwitch and Port if I give him a heads-up."

"I'll call him," Yang said, leaning the side of her head onto the top of Ruby's. He'd probably ask about Raven, but Yang could handle that.

Qrow stepped forward, wrapping them both in his arms. "I'm proud of you. There are grown hunters who wouldn't be brave enough to do what you have."

Yang turned her head into his chest and breathed him in. Mistral couldn't be safe for them, but she could pretend for a little while.

[*]

They found Qrow's noodle place. All through lunch, Yang and Ruby's phones buzzed away, the RWBY/RNJR chat racing along with plans. Usually Yang tried not to check her phone during family time, but this was important.

Like she thought, Weiss was talking to Winter and Neptune, while Blake talked to Sun, and Ren said he'd messaged Yatsuhashi. Nora and Jaune hadn't made any deep friendships outside of the group, but then, neither had Yang. She'd hung out with people at Signal, and a little at Beacon, but no one she'd trust to have her back in a fight.

When their bowls were empty and their bellies full, Qrow stood, stretching.

"I'll be around," he said, dropping a few lien on the table to cover the bill. "I'm gonna take a few bounties while I'm here, see if any of my contacts have heard about that girl."

It wasn't until they'd already hugged and said goodbye that Yang remembered: "Hey, where's Zwei?"

"Sleeping off the flight. I'll drop him off tomorrow."

"Hey, wait!" Ruby called after him, but he was already gone. She drooped. "I don't think our hotel allows dogs."

Yang laughed, nudging her sister with a hip. "We'll figure it out."

They had a lot of work to do. They'd find a place for Zwei in it.


	71. Family Ties IV

Yang bit the inside of her cheek when Taiyang sighed. She'd expected this. She'd known he'd be concerned, known he had never been comfortable with she and Ruby chasing down Cinder. Now that everything was explained, this was exactly the reaction she'd thought he'd have.

"Of course I'll come, Little Dragon," Taiyang said, sounding tired. "I'll see if I can't track down Goodwitch and Port, too. Oobleck is off somewhere but I'll send him a message."

Yang sagged against the bedframe, closing her eyes. "Thanks, Dad."

"Now," Taiyang said in his Dad Voice, Yang wincing in anticipation. "About that picture."

"What about it, Dad?" Yang asked, not above using her Blonde Bimbo act.

"Where did you get it?"

Yang shrugged despite not being on video with him. "I traded for it."

There was a long, heavy silence on Taiyang's end. Then: "Who did you _trade_ for a picture of Raven?"

The temptation was there to ask 'oh, is that who that is?' but Yang wasn't going to be that way if he was actually going to talk about it. "Did you know?" It was the same question she'd asked back when she first got the picture, but this time he might answer it. "That she was working with... whoever?"

"Working with who, Yang? Where is the picture from?"

"The train," Yang said, trying to be patient. "When I fought Neopolitan."

Another silence. "You traded Neopolitan for it."

"Dad," Yang said, warning. "You need to tell me what's going on with Raven."

"I'll be there soon," he said instead, "tell Ruby to call me."

"Dad, wait--"

She was talking to a dial tone. Frustrated, Yang threw her phone across the room, growling.

Blake walked in while the phone was midair, her eyes tracking the phone, then turning to Yang. "Didn't go well?"

"I don't know why I thought he'd finally talk about her." Yang stood, pacing from one end of their hotel room to the other. "He never does. He always avoids the subject like he's going to-to explode if he finally talks about it. I'm not asking about what happened with her, I just want to know what's going on now! He has to know!"

Blake watched her with worry in her eyes. "Maybe he doesn't know, and that's why he won't talk about it."

Yang stopped mid-pace, head jerking up. "What?"

A set of knocks hit the door, and Blake opened it after looking through the peephole. Qrow walked in, looking from Blake to Yang. "Bad time?"

Yang huffed out an unamused laugh. "Something like that. Qrow, what's--"

Zwei trotted out from around Qrow's legs, then launched himself at Yang. "Zwei!"

The corgi licked her face enthusiastically, fitting in barks in-between licks. Yang giggled, ruffling his fur and cuddling him close. It felt like it had been forever since she'd last seen him.

"Came to drop him off," Qrow drawled. "Did you call Tai?"

It was hard to be mad at her dad while she had a bundle of cuddly dog in her arms, but Yang grumped anyway. "Yeah. He said he'd come." Qrow raised an eyebrow. "And he asked about the picture of Raven."

Qrow snorted. "Yeah, I figured he might. What did he say?"

"Wanted to know where I got it, but wouldn't tell me anything about her." Yang sighed, burying her face in Zwei's fur, inhaling his comforting doggy scent. She peeked at Qrow from over the top of Zwei's head. "Do you know anything about it?"

"About why Raven suddenly decided to show her face?" Qrow shook his head. "No. She's like a cat: wants to come on her own terms, doesn't want to answer to anyone about what those terms are."

Yang blinked, realizing something felt off about the room. She looked around, realizing they were in the only two in it. "Did Blake leave?"

Qrow nodded. "Don't think your girlfriend likes dogs."

Yang sighed fondly, rolling her eyes. "I know." The slight smile fell off her face, turning into a frown. Maybe she should be focusing on the upcoming fight against Cinder, but she couldn't help but think about Raven, about the train. It wasn't like the train was the first tight spot Yang had been in, but it was the one Raven had chosen to get involved in. How had she known? How had she gotten there? "How did Raven know I was in trouble?"

Qrow gestured for Yang to follow him, heading back towards the door. "C'mon. I'll tell you about it over some food."

Yang let Zwei down gently, the corgi trotting along behind them. Zwei was a certified Hunter-assist animal; so long as he didn't make a mess - and he wouldn't - no restaurant would say anything about him coming with them.

"The thing about having your entire family being Hunters is that some things get passed down," Qrow explained, leading the way out of the hotel. "Your teammate got her whole Semblance from her family, but most people just get something here and there. You and Ruby ended up with Semblances related to your parents', and if you have kids they might too."

Instead of a noodle place, Qrow found a BBQ restaurant, and grabbed them a table near the windows. Yang sat across from him, and Zwei clambered up on a seat of his own. They ordered their drinks - whiskey for Qrow, soda for Yang, and there was water for Zwei - and Qrow leaned back in his chair once the server was gone.

"The Branwens all have something. In addition to her Semblance, Raven can always tell where someone she's related to is, and if they're in danger."

Yang frowned. "You mean that's not a Hunter thing? Feeling where people are in a room?"

Qrow chuckled "You got that from her, huh? I'd wondered. No, it's not a Hunter thing. Is it just a room, for you?"

Yang nodded. "And it's not just family. I can feel Blake and Weiss, too."

She'd half-expected Qrow to make a face when she mentioned Weiss. She knew he disliked Winter as much as he liked her, in different ways, and that he didn't trust anyone in her family. But he didn't say a word.

"After all this, we'll have to see if you got anything else," Qrow said, taking his drink from the server and downing half of it in one go. "I ever tell you what my dad could do?"

Yang shook her head. She hadn't heard anything about her grandparents on that side. When Qrow was on Patch they didn't talk about family, and when they'd been at Signal, he'd been as impartial a teacher as he could.

He smirked, and Yang groaned, knowing that look all too well. "I think you're old enough to hear the stories. Your grandpap was very popular with the ladies...."

She spent the rest of lunch either covering her face and peeking between her fingers, or laughing so hard they got stared at by neighboring tables. It was gross sometimes - she didn't want to know how many blood aunts or uncles she could have, scattered everywhere by her horny grandfather - but she wouldn't trade it for the world.

They left the restaurant with Qrow's arm slung over Yang's shoulders, her cheeks aching from laughter.

"Alright, kiddo," he turned her loose at the front door to her hotel. "I leave on a bounty tonight, and I'll be gone for a bit. Try not to get into any trouble while I'm gone."

Yang laughed. "Like you're one to talk."

Qrow smirked agreement, lifting a hand in farewell. "Be careful, Yang."

"I will."


	72. Clouds On The Horizon

Yang arrived in her room to find Weiss and Blake waiting for her, tension so thick she could almost taste it in the air.

"Uh, guys?" She hesitated in the doorframe, biting the inside of her cheek.

"Close the door," Weiss ordered.

Yang stepped inside, frowning and closing the door. "What's going on?"

Weiss rolled her jaw, uncrossing and recrossing her legs. "I'm returning to Atlas. Winter has been poisoned."

Yang crossed the room, sitting next to Weiss. The other girl was too tense for Yang to try touching her. She stuck her hands under her thighs so she wouldn't be tempted. "What happened?"

Weiss' breaths were too controlled, too even, to be natural. Yang ached to reach for her, to offer comfort. She couldn't imagine being stuck a continent away while Ruby was sick.

"I don't know. According to Ironwood, one second she was fine, the next she was on the floor screaming." Weiss took another pinched breath. "I have never once heard her scream in pain."

Yang didn't know much about Winter personally, but she knew the older woman was tough. She'd basically raised Weiss, and Weiss was one of the toughest people Yang knew. So Winter had to be too.

"I'm coming with you."

Yang and Weiss both whipped their heads to stare at Blake.

"You're not going alone," Blake said firmly.

"Babe--"

"Blake--"

"No." Blake raised her chin, staring them down. They both knew what it looked like when she dug her heels in. "Weiss, tell me you don't want me there."

Weiss clenched her fists, looking away. "They need you here."

"You need me there."

"I'm coming too, then," Yang said, looking from Weiss to Blake and back again.

Blake shook her head. "You have to stay with Ruby, and Ruby has to stay here."

She was right, and Yang hated it. Ruby still didn't know how to make her flashy-light power work on command, but it was the only thing they had that would definitely knock Cinder out of the battle. And RNJR had somehow been okay in Vacuo, but Yang knew her baby sister could be impulsive. Without someone to talk her out of it, she would chase down a Cinder sighting and get in over her head before their reinforcements got there. Yang trusted NJR to have her back, but not to talk her out of it. If Yang sat on her, she'd have to listen to reason. Or at least she wouldn't be able to go anywhere. Yang groaned in frustration.

"I could...." Even as she started the sentence, Yang knew she didn't have a good ending to it. She could what, go with them to Atlas and turn around and come right back? Some help that would be.

A cold hand settled over hers. Yang looked up, startled, to meet Weiss' eyes.

"I appreciate it," Weiss said quietly. There was a different kind of intensity there, something Yang couldn't quite place. The other girl cleared her throat, standing. "Blake, I've booked passage on an airship tomorrow morning. I will send you the boarding details."

"Of course, Weiss."

Weiss strode out of the room, shoulders tight and head held high.

Yang moved over to Blake, burying her face in Blake's neck. Blake stroked her fingers gently through Yang's hair, humming comfortingly.

"We'll be alright. Winter is a Maiden, and she has access to the best medicine Atlas can offer."

Yang sighed. "I know. I'm just... I'm worried. Winter getting poisoned _now_?"

Blake rested her cheek on top of Yang's head. "I know. But it... doesn't make any sense for it to be Cinder, unless she's in Atlas, and has access to Winter."

Pyrrha giving up the Fall Maiden title to Cinder made sense once they knew that Maiden powers passed on to the last woman the Maiden thought of before they died. Cinder had killed her, so Pyrrha thinking of her was shitty, but reasonable. Yang couldn't think of a way for Cinder to force Winter to think about her as she died, though. If it was as simple as forcing her way past Winter's security and killing her, wouldn't she have already done it? It didn't make any sense

"Be careful, babe."

Blake kissed the top of her head. "I will."

[*]

Yang saw them off to the airstrip. They couldn't bring the whole group for fear of being noticed, but it wasn't like Yang had been subtle about being in Mistral up until now. No one would think it was weird for her to walk Blake and Weiss to the airship, and if Cinder had been the one to poison Winter, she'd have to know Weiss would go to her sister's side.

They'd already said goodbye in private, since Blake was uncomfortable with public displays of affection, but she'd given Yang one last intense look, fingers brushing over Yang's jaw. Both Blake and Weiss had promised to stay in touch as best they could with the CCTV towers still spotty, and Yang had smiled through her gnawing worry. She didn't think she'd fooled either of them, but she'd tried.

_Yangarang: Love you_

Almost immediately, her scroll dinged.

_Blakey: Love you too._

Yang watched their airship until it was just a speck on the horizon.


	73. Brewing CFVY

Time dragged by without Blake and Weiss. Restless energy hummed in Yang's bones, sending her to the gym, or running, or pacing in her room when she couldn't talk one of the others into going out with her. She spent more time than she wanted to staring at one of the boring room paintings, lost in her head. It wasn't like she needed either one of them to get through her day, but not being able to hear from them while they were so far away bugged her.

Weiss had left her a few Dust crystals to use while they were gone, and while it wasn't as good as having Weiss instruct her on it, there was a little she could do without someone helping her out. She'd never be much of a Dust caster, but it wouldn't hurt to have another option.

Ruby tried to teach her one day. It lasted exactly a day, and they agreed never to speak of it again.

The first of their reinforcements to show up was Coco. According to Ren, she'd already been in the kingdom of Mistral for something, and just had to come to the city to meet up with them.

"Looking tired there, Xiao Long," Coco smirked, crossing her arms over her chest.

Yang rolled her eyes, snorting. From anyone else she'd feel self-conscious, but she knew Coco only even bothered talking to people if she liked them. Insults were normal.

"And you're looking out of practice, Adel," she shot back. They'd met up at a coffee shop - where else? - and Coco had promptly ordered them both espresso and refused to let Yang pay for anything. She'd lost some of the tightly-corded muscle she'd had at Beacon, some of the strength in the way she walked. Yang wondered how she'd been.

Coco cackled, tapping the purse at her side. "Don't get cocky; I might've been light on the sparring lately, but I could still kick your ass."

Yang rolled her eyes and reached to take a sip of her drink. Halfway there, Coco's hand shot out, catching her right arm.

"Excuse me, what is this?" Coco's eyebrows shot up to her hairline. Yang bristled, a mix between defensiveness and shame brewing in her. She opened her mouth to say something, probably something really rude, but Coco beat her to it. "Chrome? On the queen of loud colors? Unacceptable. No emblem, no tinting, no _fun_. Schnee did a good job with your clothes matching your style, but this, Xiao Long? This is a travesty."

Yang gaped, mouth opening and closing twice before she could think of anything to say. "Who says Weiss picked out my clothes?" Smooth, Xiao Long.

Coco snorted. "Please. This has Schnee written all over it. Unlike your arm. Which has _boring_ written all over it. C'mon." She waved for the server and demanded to-go cups for their drinks. "We are going to an anodizer and getting this fixed."

"Where is there an anodizer in Mistral?" It seemed like all that could come out of Yang's mouth was weak protests. She hadn't even thought to do anything with her arm. It'd just been there, just something she'd use because she had to. She got her secret weapon installed, but other than that? She didn't want to think about it, let alone decorate it.

If Coco rolled her eyes any harder they'd fall out of her head. "Mistral is a Hunter city. Trust me, there's at least four anodizers around."

Sure enough, there was one within twenty minutes' walk, which Coco spent heckling Yang about letting Weiss dress her.

"Are you finally dating her? Because God, it's about time."

Yang scrunched up her face. "Why did everyone think I was gonna end up dating Weiss? I'm with Blake."

"They were tied for first place," Coco shrugged, unapologetic.

"And who was second place?"

"Valkyrie, of course."

Of course she was.

If Yang thought the ribbing was over once Coco had to take backstage to the anodizer, she was wrong. She had no idea that someone who tinted metal for a living could be so sassy, but apparently she was wrong.

"Never thought I'd agree with an Adel on anything," the anodizer, a tall woman with about as much metal piercing her body as she had scattered around the shop, sighed, "but this is sad. This is a fine piece of Mistral tech you've got here, naked as the day it was forged."

"I've been busy," Yang grumped, forcing herself not to twitch her arm out of the woman's grasp.

The other two women rolled their eyes at the same time.

"Whatever," the anodizer said, "let's get this baby prettied up."

Despite what people thought about Yang getting her crest on everything, her arm did not end up with her black flame-heart on it. The anodizer tinted it half in her personal yellow, and half in black, with silver along the edges and at the elbow. Coco took care of the bill with a waved hand that Yang was almost used to from Weiss doing the same thing. 

"I... kinda like it." Yang tilted her arm this way and that, flexing her fingers. It looked less like a dead metal thing attached to the end of her arm and more like something that was hers. It didn't look like flesh and blood, but... maybe it didn't need to.

Coco smirked, satisfied. She'd tipped the anodizer well enough to make Yang stare, so Yang figured she liked it too. "It fits you, Xiao Long. Can't go into the Kaleidescope Festival without some style."

Yang's head whipped to face Coco. "I'm not entering the Kaleidescope Festival."

Coco led Yang out of the shop, tipping the anodizer a wink. "Sure you are." She pursed her lips and lowered her voice. "Look, Xiao Long, you're not wrong about me being out of shape. I haven't done much with the Hunter stuff since Beacon." Yang did not flinch. "CFVY split after that. Fox and Velvet have kept working, but me and Yatsu... I went on tour, and he went home. I don't think he's coming."

"Is he...?"

"He'll be okay, but he needs time." Coco pulled her into an alley, hands on her shoulders. "I'm lucky because I'm not a front-line fighter. It's gonna be close, but if I start practicing now, I'll be good enough to put on a show. But..." She shook her head. "Do you really think something's going to go down at the Festival? Be honest with me, Yang."

Yang frowned, looking down. Did she really believe Cinder would be there? Did she trust Neopolitan enough for this? Well, no. She didn't trust Neo on anything. But... she didn't really have to. Neo's umbrella had Roman's cane in it, even though it had to be expensive and didn't add anything to it. Roman had died following Cinder. She didn't trust Neo not to pull something, but this? Yeah, she thought she could trust her to point Yang and her friends at Cinder in hopes they'd kill her.

"Yeah," Yang said, meeting Coco's eyes. "It's gonna happen."

Coco took a deep breath, then let it go, dropping her hands from Yang's shoulders. "Then we need to be there, and we need an excuse to have our weapons. I don't know how much help I'll be, but you'll have Fox and Velvet at least."

"I think you've already been a lot of help," Yang said quietly, looking down at her newly-claimed arm.

The other girl laughed, shoving her out of the alleyway. "Don't get your feelings all over me, Xiao Long. I'm allergic."

"You and Weiss," Yang shook her head, letting Coco lead her down the street.

Coco dropped her off at her hotel. "I'll let you know when we're having practice. Same scroll number?" Yang nodded. "Later, Xiao Long."

For some reason, Yang couldn't keep a smile off her face for the rest of the day.


	74. Picking Your Battles

The second Yang walked into the room, Ruby's eyes went wide. She dashed over to Yang in a cloud of rose petals, already squealing something too high-pitched and fast to make out.

Yang laughed, lifting her arm and sister both. "Use real words, Ruby. Zwei's the only one who gets it when you talk in dog-whistle."

Ruby stuck her tongue out in Yang's direction, dropping to the floor. "I _said_ I like your arm! It's really cool!"

Ren glanced over and nodded his approval, Nora bouncing over to examine it.

"I didn't know you liked silver," Nora said innocently, tracing the edging.

Yang coughed, pulling her arm away from the inspection. It was nice knowing they liked her changes, but she wasn't really ready for that much attention. "It looked good."

Yep, that was the only reason.

"So," Yang said, "I'm going to be the Y in CFVY for the Kaleidescope Festival."

Ruby immediately made an outraged noise. "What? But you said we couldn't enter because it might tip Cinder off!"

"Well, yeah. _You_ can't. If Cinder's watching Mistral she already knows I'm here." Yang really hadn't planned on entering the festival at all, but if Yatsuhashi couldn't, she could fill in for him.

"Okay," Jaune held up a finger, cutting off the start to Ruby's brewing outburst. "I'm officially confused. We didn't come close to graduating Beacon. How would we even be allowed to enter a contest for rookie teams?"

"All Hunter academy teams have a license to operate, but not to take missions or bounties outside of the academy system," Ren said quietly. "So we couldn't take any of the official Hunter work here, but the Kaleidescope Festival only requires you be a registered Hunter and not registered to a school. Right now, we're both."

Jaune's face scrunched up. "So we can compete, but we can't work?"

Yang shrugged. "Makes sense to me. We don't have all the official paperwork to take missions, but if you can't spar safely you can't get into one of the big schools. So it's totally fine."

"More like totally unfair," Ruby sulked.

"Gotta keep under the radar, and putting your name down for a Mistral festival isn't gonna help."

"Actually," Ren said, "only the leader of a team needs to register their name."

"So... we could have Ren do it," Jaune said. "It's still RNJR if Ren's the leader."

Yang frowned. This felt a lot like exactly what she'd been thinking about why she had to stay in Mistral instead of going with Blake and Weiss. To stop them from doing things like this. "That really doesn't sound like a good idea, guys."

"Yang, we're already at the point where if Cinder's paying attention, she probably knows Ruby is here." Jaune said. "We were a team in Vacuo and we weren't really... subtle about it. Ren has been out with Weiss, I've been to see Pyrrha's moms, and you and Nora have gone walking around. Plus, Qrow. If we're all here, Ruby probably is too."

Yang crossed her arms over her chest, looking away. If Cinder knew Ruby was here, what was stopping her from trying to take them on? Was she afraid, or waiting for something?

"I think we should put it in the group chat and see what Weiss and Blake think. And... I'll ask Uncle Qrow about it." Yang said, biting the inside of her cheek. There were too many questions, and not enough answers.

Ruby sighed, sulking. "Fine." Yang reached out to ruffle her hair, but her heart wasn't in it.

[*]

_Uncle Qrow: might as well_   
_Uncle Qrow: theyre right cinder probably knows youre there_   
_Uncle Qrow: they need a reason to have their weapons on them at the festival_

Yang groaned, hiding her face in her hands. "You're not helping!" 

When they'd made the first plan, they'd assumed that the festival would let them have their weapons on them. They hadn't talked about it, but they hadn't planned for being disarmed, either. It was stupid, if Yang was being honest with herself. The Vytal Festival had disarmed everyone who came into the stadium, with the contestants getting weapon pods for the event just in case. Ren reported that the Kaleidescope Festival wasn't letting people have their weapons either, but contestants could wait down in the barracks for their turn instead of in the stands, and could keep their weapons so long as they stayed there. So the only way for everyone to keep their weapons was to compete.

Her scroll buzzed with a notification from the groupchat.

_Blakey: Ren entering RNJR as being under his leadership is the least risk._   
_Weissicle: He and I have already been seen together, and I have been seen leaving._   
_Nora: so if rennie was here w/u and u left........... but hes here........._   
_Weissicle: Exactly. It's cause for suspicion. Unless, of course, he was also in Mistral to compete._   
_Blakey: It would be a good plan to make money while catching Haven's attention._   
_Rubes: Ya being a hunter who can't take missions sux_

Yang collapsed onto the bed, staring up at the ceiling. She couldn't shake the feeling that this was a mistake. Jumping Cinder was one thing, but putting Ruby in the tournament felt like waving a flag at a bull. Even though it was under Ren's name and not Ruby's. Even though they'd probably be going for Cinder before RNJR even took the field.

_Yangarang: Am I being 2 overprotective_

She closed her eyes. There was no guarantee she'd get a response. Scroll reception was still patchy in a lot of places, and they were all really busy people. She just... needed another opinion. Her scroll dinged.

_Blakey: No._   
_Blakey: But I don't think we have a choice._

Damn it.


	75. Cold Brew

Training got intense. There was already the knowledge that they'd be fighting someone who had beaten them last time, but now it felt more real, felt closer. The plan was to jump Cinder as soon as they could. No one wanted to use Dust or energy in the tournament, not when they'd be fighting for their lives so soon afterward. They'd all be in it together no matter what the teams were, and that's how they trained.

A few days after Ren registered RNJR for the Kaleidescope Festival, Fox and Velvet arrived in Mistral city. Coco and Yang met them at the docks, Coco striding forward and pulling Fox into a noogie immediately. He yelped, Velvet giggling at his side. Yang hung back, not wanting to interrupt.

"What are you doing, Xiao Long?" Coco gestured for her to come closer. "You're a part of the team now, get over here!"

"I hear you'll be fighting with us in the tournament," Fox said, squirming out of Coco's arms.

Yang snorted. "Something like that."

"It's good to see you again, Yang," Velvet smiled.

Yang smiled right back. "You too, Velvet."

Coco rolled her eyes. "Alright, enough of the touchy-feely stuff. I've got us a gym downtown; we're gonna go show off."

Yang frowned, but followed along. Who were they going to show off to?

Coco's gym looked exactly like what Yang would have imagined rich people gyms looked like, if she'd ever stopped and thought about it. Lots of chrome, fancy equipment, showers that gleamed, and lockers keyed to your thumbprints. Fox, Yang, and Velvet got a few sidelong looks, but Coco's sharp smile warned them off quickly enough.

"Alright!" Coco clapped her hands together. "Spread out, stretch, and get ready. We're gonna warm up with a free for all. Blunt edges only, no projectiles, no Semblances or Dust."

Yang stepped into a lunge, getting herself ready. This wasn't the way RWBY played it, but she could adapt.

As soon as everyone was good, Coco whistled through her fingers, and the three of them jumped into the ring, Yang a heartbeat behind.

Coco had said she was out of practice, but Yang could barely tell. She didn't know if it was because Coco had been just about to graduate when Beacon fell, or if she'd just been that good, but she kept up with Velvet just fine, and managed to dodge or deflect most of Fox's blows instead of getting tagged by them. Velvet was a pretty good hand-to-hand fighter, and Yang ended up dueling her for at least a minute without either of them getting one-up on the other. Some of that was because they were both pulling their blows, but a lot of it was because Velvet was really good, even though she focused more on her Semblance and weapon. Yang wondered if she'd be that good at her secondary focus - her marksmanship - with another two years to work on it.

Fox flew across the room and landed in a heap, coughing. Coco stalked over to him, glaring down.

"Don't you dare take it easy on me," she seethed, barely loud enough for Yang to hear. "Bruises today...."

"Save lives tomorrow," he wheezed out apologetically. 

Coco reached down, and he took her hand. She patted his cheek gently, then slapped his ass to send him back into the ring. "Good. Now this time, kick my ass."

The four of them went at it until Yang felt liquid and loose, ready for whatever came next.

"Alright, standby while I kick it up a notch." Coco moved over to a panel in the wall, changing settings on something.

"Your style has changed," Velvet commented, smiling. "Do you mind if I take another picture of Ember Celica?"

"Uh sure," Yang said, moving so Velvet could get a clear view of both gauntlets. "Do you need to like... update your picture or something?"

Velvet held up her camera and clicked it to take the shot. "Yes, I used it while Fox and I were on the hunt. Very useful against packs of wolves."

Yang snorted. "Not so useful against a pack of griffons."

Velvet tilted her head, curious. "A pack?"

Before Yang could tell the story, the center of the arena shimmered. A boarbatusk came into view, and Yang jumped back at the sight. It wasn't a perfect copy, and she felt silly as soon as she did it, but old habits were hard to break.

"Just a projection," Coco grinned. "Cutting edge tech, lets you fight whatever you want. You have to take it easy with the Dust and Semblances, but any Hunter worth their salt should be able to take on a boarbatusk with just their weapon." She hit a button, and another boarbatusk appeared. "Or two."

Yang shook her head, amazed. Technology was really, really cool sometimes.

On Coco's signal, they jumped in to fight the boarbatusks. It went... poorly.

More than one person got thrown out of the arena, or nearly trampled. Yang had taken on boarbatusks by herself before, and wouldn't worry too much about two, but somehow with CFVY they all managed to get in each other's way. Coco wasn't as fast as anyone expected her to be, including herself. Velvet and Fox had patterns that Coco hadn't managed to catch on to. And even when the three of them managed to coordinate, there was a Yatsuhashi-shaped hole in all their attack patterns.

Coco called them to a halt before anyone got hurt, but Yang had a feeling it wouldn't be long. The boarbatusks disappeared in another shimmer of light, and the four of them met in the center of the arena.

"Well, that was terrible," Coco commented, shaking her head. "We're going to need a lot of practice."

Yang smiled crookedly, and Velvet and Fox nodded their agreement.

"Alright, let's get lunch, and we'll talk it out."

"Is it gonna be at a coffee place?" Yang asked, half teasing.

Coco rolled her eyes. "Way to stereotype."

"We're getting steak," Fox said, sounding like he was already drooling. Yang laughed. She could get behind that.

When they showed up at the steakhouse, it was packed, with a line out of the door. Yang frowned, figuring they were about to go elsewhere. Instead, Coco kept walking, completely ignoring the line. Fox and Velvet followed behind her like this happened every day, and Yang scrambled to keep up with them.

She missed whatever Coco said to the host, but it not only got them in, it got them a private room in the back all to themselves. It wasn't a huge room, more of a closed-off booth than anything, but it was a room at a fancy steakhouse that Coco either had reserved or they'd cleared out for her. Yang had thought _Weiss_ liked using her money to get them nice things.

Coco hit a switch Yang hadn't even noticed on the side of the booth, and what little noise she'd heard from the rest of the restaurant faded out, replaced by a low hum. Coco slid into the booth, spreading her arms out along the top. Velvet and Fox sat down, flanking her, and Coco raised an eyebrow at Yang.

"Alright, Xiao Long, let's talk about Mercury Black and what really happened at the Vytal Festival."


	76. Fair Trade

Chills ran down Yang's spine. It took a lot of self-control not to activate Ember Celica and run. There wasn't any sense behind it, just an animal need to run. Any kind of fight would demolish the room and bring a lot of attention to what was going on, which would let her get away. CFVY might be above her level, but she was sure she could use her Semblance to get out and towards somewhere crowded where people would intervene. She also didn't think, once her knee-jerk urge to run passed, that they were going to blame her. They'd just spent a couple hours with each other and no one had brought it up, though it was clear from the lack of surprise on Velvet and Fox's faces that they'd planned this.

"What about him?" Yang asked warily. There wasn't much room to stand up against the door where she was, but she couldn't make herself sit down, either.

"Did you do it?" Coco asked, blunt as always. "Break his legs?"

"No." Yang let that one word speak for her. She'd already gone over these arguments, with her dad, with Blake. Nobody was going to believe her from her arguing them around. She didn't _blame _people for believing their eyes over her, not when she couldn't prove anything. It hurt, but she didn't know that she'd believe herself either. It just looked too real, even when she was the one watching the videos.__

__Coco shrugged. "Alright."_ _

__Yang stared at her. "Just like that?"_ _

__"Just like that." Coco waved a hand at the bench. "Sit down, Xiao Long. If I was gonna bump you off, I wouldn't bring you to a steakhouse to do it. You think I don't know you'd just blow out the walls?"_ _

__Yang sat at the very edge of the seat, still not entirely comfortable despite Velvet and Fox relaxing at Coco's sides._ _

__"Did you think I did it?"_ _

__Fox shook his head. "Black didn't smell afraid, or hurt." Yang knew Fox was blind, but still could get around well enough to qualify for a Hunter, but she didn't think his sense of smell was that good, to smell one person while surrounded by a crowd. "Fear and pain are... like smoke. No matter what you're cooking, or where you are, you're always going to smell the smoke on top of it. Even in a crowded restaurant."_ _

__She nodded, accepting it. She had no reason not to believe him, after all._ _

__Velvet chimed in: "I trust Fox."_ _

__Coco shrugged when Yang looked to her. "It didn't sound like you. And you kept your temper today despite being thrown into it, and even though we purposefully fucked up."_ _

__Yang's jaw dropped. "You were testing me?"_ _

__"Do you really blame me?" Coco's tone turned deadly serious. "Look, I trust Yatsu to know when someone's not gonna play him, but you called us in for some serious business, Xiao Long. The last time Fall decided she wanted something, she took down a school and two of the most powerful Hunters in the world to get it."_ _

__The waiter came in to take their drinks, putting off the serious discussion for a few minutes. Nobody ordered alcohol, even though the drinks menu was longer than Yang's arm and twice as thick._ _

__"You said you're sure this is happening, and I believe you," Coco said, once the waiter left. "If nothing else, Fall wouldn't be caught dead missing the Kaleidescope Festival if she's been pretending to be new money like Belladonna says."_ _

__"You've been talking to Blake?" Yang started. Blake hadn't mentioned anything about it._ _

__Coco waved a hand towards Velvet, who smiled apologetically. "I have. She didn't change her number, she just... stopped responding after Beacon."_ _

__Yeah, that sounded about right._ _

__"So how'd they do it? Make it look like you broke Black's legs?" Coco took a sip of her water, leaning back against the booth._ _

__Yang sighed, and explained the whole thing. By the time she was done, the waiter came back to take their food order. Fox ordered a giant steak, to no one's surprise, while Velvet got a salad that sounded complicated and Coco and Yang got steaks with a plate of appetizers. The waiter didn't bat an eyelash at the volume of their order, probably because there were a lot of Hunters in Mistral. The appetites of working Hunters paid the bills for a lot of restaurants._ _

__At the end of the story, Coco shrugged. "Sounds like something a Semblance could do, yeah. I mean... when we were fighting them in doubles, I thought I saw Yatsu in the forest. That's why I let down my guard. But it couldn't have been. I thought the pressure had gotten to me, but...."_ _

__Velvet leaned into Coco's side, silently offering support._ _

__"Whatever," Coco waved it off, but she didn't push Velvet away. "Point is, I could believe she's good enough to do it. They got the jump on us, after all."_ _

__"Black took down Yatsu," Fox said, leaning forward, "and you took down Black. Think you can do it again?"_ _

__Yang shook her head. "I don't need to. Neither of them have been seen anywhere near Cinder since Beacon."_ _

__CFV exchanged looks._ _

__"Well," Coco drawled, " _that's_ interesting. You'd think burning down a school would be the kind of thing that forged lifelong bonds."_ _

__Yang took a deep breath, fighting off the memory of burning and heat and pain. When she looked up, there was sympathy in all three faces, but none of them mentioned it._ _

__"So," Coco said, "we going to do this again? I think we showed off enough that people will believe we're here for the festival."_ _

__There had been a lot of talk about that in the RWBY/RNJR group chat. Until Weiss and Blake got back, there wasn't a RWBY to train with, and there wasn't a point in adding Yang to RNJR when CFVY was there. Since Yatsuhashi wasn't there, Yang would be the only one who had any personal experience with how CFVY fought, which would be important when they finally went up against Cinder. Before they'd entered themselves into the running for the Kaleidescope Festival, they could have just done joint team training, but everyone had agreed that it would look suspicious for competing teams to be working together suddenly when they hadn't had a relationship before. And they had to avoid looking suspicious just in case Cinder didn't know Ruby was here, or at least didn't know that RWBY/RNJR was here to take her out._ _

__Yang had done a lot of groaning during that conversation. If they could just kick down Cinder's door this would all be a lot easier, but they didn't know where the door was or if she even had one. They were gambling a lot on Neo's word, on what little evidence Weiss had gathered, on hoping that Cinder didn't have information they needed her not to have._ _

__The point was, they'd eventually agreed that Yang training with CFVY would be helpful in the long run._ _

__"Somebody's gotta know how you guys fight," Yang said, "and we might not be able to ID her as soon as the Festival starts. She's got a lot of faces and I don't think we know them all."_ _

__"So until you pick her out, we have to pretend to participate," Velvet said._ _

__Yang nodded. "Yeah."_ _

__The appetizers came in, a variety of vegetables, bread, and oil that made Yang's mouth water. Steakhouses might have come over from Vale, but Mistrali weren't shy about putting olives on everything and putting pita bread on the side. The four of them dug in hungrily._ _

__From there everyone relaxed. They talked about Coco's fashion tour, about Fox and Velvet going on hunts, about Yang's journey across three continents. The steaks (and Velvet's salad) came in and put a halt to all conversation for what had to be ten minutes. The steak was so good. Juicy, perfectly spiced, and it basically melted in her mouth with every bite. Yang groaned more than once, and she wasn't the only one._ _

__"You just love me for my charged card," Coco smirked on their way out of the restaurant._ _

__"I love you, Coco's charged card," Fox teased. She shoved him into a lamppost, and Velvet giggled at them both._ _

__Yang laughed, linking her fingers behind her head. She could get used to this._ _


	77. Livewire

"Yang." Ren approached her just before one of the team practices, when everyone was warming up in the gym Weiss rented for them. Yang was pulling double duty between RNJR and CFVY, but she didn't mind. It kept her busy. "May I ask you about your Semblance?"

"Sure," Yang shrugged. She knew Semblances were private for some people, but she'd never cared. Knowing what she could do wouldn't save you from her massive powerup, and the times she'd lost hadn't been because the people had known about her in advance.

"You absorb kinetic energy. What about electrical?"

Yang nodded. "Yeah, sure. Whatever's supposed to hurt."

Ren tilted his head. "Can you gain energy from attacks too weak to impact your Aura?"

"Yup. They take forever to charge me up, though."

That had been one bored summer where she'd gotten Ruby to throw pebbles at her for about an hour before she had enough to use. It was always good to know more about herself, but this was useless; nobody had an _hour_ to screw around during a fight.

He nodded for her to follow him, walking towards Nora. The girl winked at them, hefting her hammer over her shoulder. "Did Rennie tell you?"

"Nope." Yang could guess, though. He'd asked about electrical stuff, after all.

"I'm going to try creating a current between you and Nora," Ren said quietly. "It's going to feel strange."

Strange she could deal with. Nora held out her hand, guiding Yang until they were holding each other's forearms, and Ren carefully put a hand on each of their arms. Nora's free hand went up against the light socket, which she'd taken apart to get directly at the wiring. Ren closed his eyes, and Yang braced herself.

Woah. Weird was definitely a word for it. Yang needed energy to trigger her Semblance, but her emotions played a part in it too. She tried to always be aware of what she was feeling, and how much. What Ren did felt like slipping right into the deepest meditation trance of her life, only her thoughts hadn't really changed. All her emotions were stilled, quiet. It was uncomfortable, but she could take it.

It didn't take long before Ren and Nora worked out their end, and Yang started feeling energy feed into her Semblance. Her Aura didn't feel like it was depleting, but she could feel herself moving towards being able to use her Semblance. She grinned, happiness muted but still there. She could handle this.

They reached the point where Yang could easily activate her Semblance, and she moved to pull back. Ren lightly flexed his hand where it held her arm, and she stopped.

"I would like to continue," Ren said.

Yang tilted her head, thinking. Well, she'd never tried it before. It was now or never to push harder, go beyond. She nodded, closing her eyes.

She could feel it when they hit the boundary. She made a noise, but Ren was already on top of it, turning off the current. She opened her eyes, he opened his, and as soon as their eyes met he let go.

she is unbound.

the world slows to a crawl around her, underwater and muted and so so slow. she lurches forward, lightning in her veins. one step takes her from the edge of the room to the center. she raises her hands above her head. she can see every individual vein and wrinkle, the play of muscles beneath her skin, the contraction and release. the overhead lights spark and speak to one another in the language of light and electricity.

a horn sounds, slow and brassy. she turns, and sees jaune's mouth moving. it's him. he is the horn. slow and loud.

"yang are you ok" it's ruby, who is almost at full speed in that moment, moving towards her sister. she slows back down to honey, her eyes widening.

"im fine" yang laughs.

the world rushes up to meet her. it tilts

 

tilts

tilts

and she falls down.

[*]

Yang woke with a pounding headache and lead in all her limbs. She groaned, rolling onto her side and curling in on herself. Even that made her feel like she was going to throw up from pain, and she fought her stomach on that point.

"Yang?"

She flinched at Ruby's voice. Too loud.

"Sorry," Ruby whispered. "I'm here."

A small hand touched her arm. Yang expected it to hurt, but it was fine. Felt good, actually; Ruby's hands were cold.

"Water," Yang croaked. She needed it, even though moving sounded like the worst idea.

Ruby's hand moved, and a bottle of water pressed into Yang's clenched fists. She slowly uncurled her fingers, shaking hands undoing the cap. Trying to maneuver so she could drink without triggering her massive headache sucked a lot, but she managed to get down a quarter of the bottle without wanting to die. Whatever she drank last night, she was never going to drink it again. This was not worth it.

"Dad said to just stay in bed and drink water," Ruby whispered. She was still too loud, but Yang could cope. "You'll feel better soon, he said."

"You told Dad?" Yang protested weakly, still clutching the bottle of water. He was going to kill her.

"Why wouldn't I tell Dad?" Ruby sounded like she was frowning. "It was a training accident."

Oh, right. Yang remembered the feeling of _fastfastfast_ of watching the rest of the world as though it was through a fishbowl. She'd seen everything, small details that she hadn't known people could see without a microscope or whatever, things she'd never thought about. She might have been seeing sound at some point, she couldn't really remember. It was her Semblance cranked all the way up, way past when your scroll warned you about hearing loss.

Yang heard someone's scroll buzzing, and curled further in on herself. This was the worst hangover, and she couldn't even swear off drinking to put a stop to it. Ruby rummaged around, then paused.

"Um, Yang? It's Blake."

Yang slowly reached out her hand, flexing her fingers to ask for the phone. Ruby pressed it into her hand. Yang blindly groped for the volume button, turned it one notch above silent, and answered the call. "Hey."

"Yang." Blake's voice was barely audible, but that was all Yang could really do right now. Her brain was going to pound right out of her head at this rate.

"Hi," she said, unable to think of anything better. "I'm... okay."

"Ruby said it was a training accident."

"Mmph."

"I'm glad you're alright."

Yang managed a half-smile, eyes screwed tightly shut. "I will be. Just gotta... sleep it off, probably."

"Hold on, Weiss wants to talk to you."

Yang groaned. She really hoped Blake meant 'talk' and not 'lecture'. She could not handle that right now.

"Yang."

She grumbled in response. "Weiss."

"I cannot have two people in my life being bedridden right now." Weiss kept her voice low, thankfully. "You are to _listen_ to them when they tell you to stay in bed, and take care of yourself."

"Yeah." She couldn't imagine _wanting_ to get up any time soon. Her brain helpfully reminded her she'd have to get up at some point to go to the bathroom, and she shoved that thought into a dark corner where it couldn't bother her.

"Good. I'll return the scroll to Blake."

Shuffling on the other end of the line, then Blake said, "We're about to walk back into to the hospital, and it has bad reception. I'll message when I can."

"'Kay. Love you."

"I love you too, Yang."

They hung up, and Yang dropped the scroll into her pillow, covering her face with her arms again.

Ruby gently patted her head. It almost didn't hurt. "Call if you need me, okay?"

"Okay."

Yang could hear the door open, then shut, and she fell asleep soon after.


	78. Moving Forward III

"The doctors aren't saying anything."

After Yang slept basically the entire day, she'd called Blake back. Her headache turned into just a dull roar, something she could be aware of but otherwise ignore the way she did with other training injuries.

"That's not good."

Hunters didn't really get sick. They got injured constantly, but sickness wasn't something that happened often. The only times Yang could remember being sick were as a little kid, before she'd unlocked her Aura or started really training with her dad. Between Aura and keeping fit, it took something strong to take down a Hunter. She knew doctors were supposed to keep you updated with everything that was going on, but most of her experience with them involved her being doped out of her mind.

"No."

Yang closed her eyes, letting the silence draw out. Once, she'd been afraid of silence. Filled it with dumb words. Now she knew she needed it sometimes. Needed space for her thoughts.

"I think we'll be back soon." Blake murmured.

Yang winced. Weiss would never leave her sister bedridden. So either Blake thought she'd make a sudden recovery - and she didn't sound like it - or she'd... die soon.

She couldn't imagine it. Her brain refused to think about Ruby dying, about Taiyang. It didn't even want to process Blake or Weiss dying. She didn't know what she'd do. After she realized Summer wasn't coming back....

"We'll be here," Yang said. It was all she could do.

[*]

SSSN showed up not long after that. It was a little awkward, because none of the people in Mistral right then were close to anyone in SSSN, but after a really weird couple messages, Sun said they'd be exploring the city, and to call him if they needed him.

Taiyang messaged her to say he'd found Port and the other professor had agreed to help him look for Oobleck and Goodwitch, then come to Mistral. Yang wasn't sure what he'd said to Port, but it didn't really matter. Her dad trusted him, and that was good enough for her.

For the most part, Yang just trained. She and Ren and Nora tried the overcharge thing again to see if it'd get better, if she could ride it instead of getting wrecked by it. Turned out it wasn't nearly as bad the second time, but she did end up taking a massive nap. It took a lot out of all three of them, but she got about a minute of Ruby-level speed, way better sight, and crazy good strength. Overall good as a last-resort weapon, but not something she'd want to use a lot.

CFVY didn't so much need to stick to the buddy system since there was no reason to think Cinder would go for them, but they respected RNGR/RWBY's agreement and someone always walked Yang to and from her hotel for practices.

On one such night, Yang and Coco made their way from Coco's gym back to Yang's hotel, Yang buzzing with all the good chemicals of a great workout. She didn't know if they'd need to use any of it, but their teamwork was improving by leaps and bounds. With so many Hunters on hand and willing to let Velvet photograph their weapons whenever, the combo possibilities were limited only by their imaginations.

"Hey, _bitch_."

Yang stopped, unable to believe what she was hearing. She got cat-called and checked out a lot, but usually any guy paying this much attention to her also saw the gauntlets on her arms, or the muscle, or something that told him she was a Hunter and not interested in this shit.

"Excuse me?" Coco spoke before Yang could, and they both turned around, already glaring daggers.

"Shit," Yang muttered, as soon as she saw the guy. And the group of guys behind him.

She couldn't remember the meat-head in the front's name, but she knew who he was: the Blue Silk gang guy she'd intimidated to get the pouch back for Silber, who had pointed them towards Neopolitan. Judging by the scowl on the guy's face, and the fact that him and his group all looked real rough, she didn't think they were here to ask for her five-part apology.

"You know this asshole?" Coco asked under her breath, looking sideways to Yang.

"He's got a grudge," Yang whispered back, counting guys. Nine of them, against just her and Coco. Not great odds. "I stole something back from him."

"You're telling me that story _and_ buying me a drink," Coco hissed. She stepped forward before Yang could respond. "We gonna do this? I don't have all day."

The guy - Gauze, Yang remembered - smirked. "We're just here for the blonde. You wanna get outta here, you can leave free and clear."

Coco rolled her eyes, and walked towards him. He didn't bother raising the bat in his hand, snickering. "You gonna beat me up with your little--"

She darted forward lightning-quick, her bag catching him in the gut. He doubled over, wheezing out a breath, and she followed it up with an elbow to the back of his head. "Anyone want to leave?" She challenged.

Holy shit.

In the next breath, the Blue Silk guys rushed forward, holding up their bats, knives, or pipes. Yang stepped into a fighting stance, reminding herself that these guys probably didn't have Aura, so she couldn't go too crazy on them. Light hands only.

Before she could really good a good rhythm, it was over. The gang members were obviously not used to fighting Hunters, expecting a single strong attack to knock someone down. They also didn't have any real training; Yang spent most of her time trying not to break bones, not genuinely countering. By the time all the guys were on the ground groaning, neither one of them were breathing heavily.

"Alright, Xiao Long," Coco said, wiping someone else's blood off her cheek, "you're buying me that drink."


	79. Bringing It All Together

"Dad!"

Yang and Ruby called out almost at the same time, rushing forward to hug their dad. He wrapped his arms around them tightly, laughing. Yang burrowed into him, inhaling the scent of home and hooking her free arm around Ruby's shoulders. They swayed, Taiyang mumbling nonsense stuff about how happy he was to see them. Yang felt tears pricking at her eyes.

"It hasn't been that long," he teased when they finally let him go. His eyes looked a little wet too, so Yang just shook her head and laughed. "Hey, I brought presents!"

He pointed his thumb behind himself. Standing there were Port, Oobleck, and Goodwitch. Port and Oobleck were watching the family reunion indulgently, Goodwitch looking away. When Taiyang pointed to them, Goodwitch turned towards Yang and Ruby, and Yang couldn't help but let her eyes go wide.

Taiyang had told her that she wasn't the only one who got injured during the fall of Beacon. It wasn't that she hadn't believed him, it was that she hadn't really seen it. Blake's stomach healed pretty quick with just the one thin, silvery scar. Yang was the only one she knew with visible loss. Until she saw Goodwitch again.

Goodwitch's face was... Yang didn't really have words for it that she wanted to use. There were long, raised scars that went from her cheekbone down her neck and past her collar. Yang didn't know much about medical stuff, but it looked like whoever worked on her wasn't very good at it. Or maybe they'd been in a rush. One of her eyes shined a milky white, the ball of it barely visible under the film.

Yang realized she'd been staring, and dropped her eyes.

"Alright, I'm starved," Taiyang said. Yang wasn't sure if he'd picked up on the awkwardness or if he really was hungry, but it worked to get Yang's eyes off the ground. "We're gonna get barbeque!"

He led the group to a nearby restaurant. Yang kept her eyes off of Goodwitch. Maybe she was just imagining it - or _projecting_ , Weiss might say - but she thought she felt some discomfort coming from the older woman. Then again, Yang wasn't much to talk; when she wasn't wearing her long coat, she wasn't comfortable in public either.

They got to a pretty good barbeque place - they'd been in Mistral just over a month at this point and Yang had eaten at a lot of places so far - and Taiyang found them a table near the back. It had all of their backs to a wall, and a clear view of the exits. Yang wasn't surprised in the least.

As they were sitting down, Yang whisked the coat off of her shoulders, setting it on the back of her chair. Ruby looked up, startled and staring. Yang flicked her eyes to Goodwitch, and Ruby nodded. A few seconds later, Goodwitch herself glanced over, her eyes lingering for a beat on Yang's right arm. She didn't show any other sign she'd noticed, but Yang warmed up inside when she sat down. She'd made the right choice.

Qrow showed up when the drinks did, fitting right in with this crowd. Yang forgot, sometimes, that the Signal instructors and the Beacon ones were close, since she rarely saw them at the house on Patch. She and Ruby mostly watched as they caught up. Oobleck chattered at top-speeds, Port told long stories, Taiyang grinned, Qrow drank, and Goodwitch made more and more friendly-mean comments as time went on. Every so often the light would catch on her scars and she looked fierce, unearthly. Yang wondered, but wouldn't dare to ask, what had happened to her. Was it because of Beacon? Or had she been fighting since?

The professors split up after they all left the restaurant, but Taiyang slung his arms over his daughters' shoulders. "Dad's back in town, you know what that means!"

Yang knew exactly what that tone meant. "Sparring!"

Ruby groaned. It wasn't that she didn't like sparring with them, but Yang knew RNJR did morning practices, so she was probably already all kinds of sore or bruised. Ren didn't play rough even by accident, but Jaune was still learning and Nora got overenthusiastic sometimes. Ruby wasn't delicate, but she did get knocked around a lot.

"I'll be nice," Taiyang smirked. "Gotta let you get used to fighting the best again."

Yang pretended innocence. "But Dad, Ruby and I have sparred a lot lately. She already knows what that's like."

He ruffled her hair in revenge. She shouted her irritation and twisted out of his hold, trying to calm her hair back down. 

They used Weiss' rented out gym. Blake had left Yang the key while Weiss stared her down, and Yang promised not to come back alone. She unlocked it with a hopeful-worried twist in her chest, both hoping they'd be back soon and hoping they wouldn't, because of what a quick return would mean.

Taiyang craned his neck to take a look around, nodding. "It'll do." He stepped into the middle, and the three of them started warming up.

Like usual, they sparred two-on-one, Ruby and Yang against Taiyang. Normally they weren't enough to make him break a sweat, but they'd both been pushing as hard as they could lately, and Yang had been blending her style with Mercury's. They still couldn't break his guard, but he turned everything up a notch to keep up.

Ruby tapped out first, breathing hard and sweating. She called Ren and Nora to come pick her up, Taiyang and Yang staying behind to keep working.

"Cribbed a few moves from the capoeira kid, huh?" Taiyang asked, as he watched her move through a few hybrid forms.

Yang snorted. "He ruined my career, I can do whatever I want with them."

She hadn't meant it to come out that harsh, that strong. Taiyang just nodded thoughtfully, crossing his arms over his chest.

"We can go after him after all this," Taiyang said. "Find him and turn him in to the Valean authorities. Once they see he's had metal legs all along, and his partner's got illusions, they'll clear your record."

"Yeah." Yang jerked her head to show Taiyang should join her. "C'mere, let's see if you can learn a new trick."

He laughed, but joined her.

They spent a while like that, with Yang teaching for once and Taiyang absorbing what she'd learned. She'd based her style on his. She'd had to adjust for different Semblances and weapons, but they were similar enough that the base was still solid. She didn't think he'd find Mercury's moves useful, but he seemed to like learning anyway, and she was surprised to find that she liked teaching him. There was something satisfying about watching someone get something right that she'd showed them.

When they called it a night and Taiyang dropped her off, he pulled her in for a bear hug.

"I'm proud of you, Little Dragon."

That night she slept well for the first time since Blake left.


	80. Reminiscing

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> New trigger warning at the end if you need it. Take care of yourselves.

Before Yang could decide how breakfast should go, there was a knock on the door. On the other side stood Glynda Goodwitch, arms crossed over her chest.

"Xiao Long. Walk with me."

Yang held up one finger, darting back into the room to grab Ember Celica and her coat. Armed and armored, she followed Goodwitch out of the hotel.

"I've known Taiyang for a long time," Goodwitch said, when they walked out onto the street. "I graduated a few years ahead of him, but by the time they graduated everyone knew the name STRQ."

Yang stayed quiet, letting Goodwitch lead the way. Her dad's friends didn't really visit them on Patch often, and she hadn't heard many stories of STRQ's glory days. She knew they existed - they still held records at Beacon by the time Yang got there - but nobody ever talked about them.

"I've seen him through wounds that should be fatal, many crushes, two wives, the birth of two children, one divorce, Summer's disappearance, both of you joining Signal, then Beacon," Goodwitch said calmly. "So I speak with vast amounts of context when I say that after the fall of Beacon was the most panicked I have ever seen him."

Yang dropped her head, staring at the pavement.

"No, Miss Xiao Long," Goodwitch stopped her with one hand on her jaw, gently tipping it back upward. Yang found her eyes drawn to Goodwitch's damaged eye, the one that saw the world through a veil. "I meant only to say that Taiyang cares for you deeply. He came to me knowing I have experience dealing with bodily trauma, though I hadn't yet taken my most visible scars yet."

Yang bit the inside of her cheek. She wanted to ask. She wanted to know what happened, how Goodwitch had dealt with it. What had she told Taiyang about how to help Yang?

Goodwitch's hand fell from Yang's jaw, and started walking down the sidewalk again. "You may ask."

"What... what happened? If it wasn't during Beacon, then when...?"

A wry smile tugged at the corner of the woman's mouth. "After Beacon, the Grimm population was out of control." Her voice took on a lecturing tone. "There are theories that they don't exist until our negative emotions will them into being." She shook her head. "You didn't ask for a lesson. The remaining Hunters worked overtime after Beacon fell. Without Ozpin to rally us, with the CCT towers functioning irregularly... we were mostly working alone, or in pairs. As you've seen, Hunters work best in four-man teams. We forgot that."

Yang nodded, jamming her hands in the pockets of her coat. She knew exactly what happened when you ran off on your own.

"In the end, I attempted to clear an area I wasn't equipped to handle." Goodwitch pursed her lips. "I was tired, and foolishly confident that did not matter."

"You didn't have any way to call for help," Yang said. "The towers were down."

Goodwitch huffed out a laugh. "You're giving me far too much credit. I could have contained the nest without venturing inside it, and then left to see out aid. I did not, and now I carry the reminder with me."

They walk in silence for a while. Yang's head buzzed with questions, but she couldn't get any of them out. Goodwitch seemed strangely at ease with her scars, with whatever she meant by 'bodily trauma'. Yang knew what the words meant, but not what they _meant_. That could be all kinds of injuries.

"After everything, we should speak," Goodwitch says, as they pass a street vendor with more varieties of hot dogs than Yang knew existed. "I have stories that I think Taiyang has neglected to share."

Yang swallowed. "Why not today?"

Another wry smile. "I'm not prepared yet. Everyone was a little bit in love with Summer Rose, which I think is why no one has told you much about her."

It hit her that if Goodwitch knew Taiyang through two marriages, she must have known Raven. She knew both the woman who gave birth to Yang, and her actual mom, and somehow it had never come up. Why? Had her dad stopped other people from talking to her about stuff? She knew Ozpin had known her parents too, but at least he was probably too busy to talk. Why hadn't Goodwitch said anything?

"But," Goodwitch broke into Yang's thoughts, "we'll see about fixing that." Somehow they'd looped around back to the hotel, and Goodwitch gestured to it. "Thank you for indulging me."

Yang swallowed past the lump in her throat. "Thanks... to you too. Thank you for... offering to tell me." Memories of Summer were always like that. She'd managed to talk past her feelings when explaining to Blake, but it wasn't always that easy.

Goodwitch gave her a half-smile. "Of course."

On her way back up to the room, Yang's scroll rang. The display read 'Blakey', and she picked it up immediately. "Hey, baby."

Blake took a deep breath, then let it all out in a rush.

"Winter is dead."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Winter Schnee dies.


	81. Grinding To A Halt

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Friendly reminder: Minor Character Death is a tag for a reason.

It took three days for Weiss and Blake to return to Mistral.

Yang sparred. She worked out. She paced. She worried. She couldn't imagine losing Ruby. Her head didn't even want to process it, losing her sister. She knew Weiss and Winter had been all the other had, that their mother drank too much and their father was never home, and that they'd been one another's anchors. Weiss had her team now, but that didn't mean she hadn't lost Winter.

Reception was so bad over those days that Yang only got one or two messages saying they were alive and safe, always from Blake. She'd messaged Weiss once and hadn't gotten a reply. She hadn't messaged again.

Ruby waited with her on the platform when Blake and Weiss' airship came in. Blake got off first, turning until she spotted Yang. Her relief wasn't obvious, but Yang knew her and could see where she relaxed the tiniest bit. Then came Weiss, and Yang's heart broke.

Weiss at Beacon had been shut off at first, prickly and quick to anger. This was closed-off Weiss times ten. Yang could almost feel the ice coming off of her, the "don't talk to me" vibe so strong that people coming off the airship were avoiding her even in the press of offboarding. She followed after Blake in short, sharp strides, her eyes hard enough to cut diamonds. When she arrived in front of Ruby and Yang, Yang could swear the temperature went down by a few degrees.

"Weiss...." Yang had spent the whole day telling herself she shouldn't ask how Weiss was. Not in public, anyway. Weiss would hate it. She'd managed to get Ruby to agree, too, but that didn't leave them with a lot to talk about.

"Ruby. Yang." Weiss stood completely straight, jaw hard and breaths perfectly even.

"Yang." Blake breathed her name, and Yang softened. She couldn't help it, didn't much want to. She couldn't tackle Blake in a hug the way she wanted to, but she reached forward to wrap her fingers around Blake's arm for a moment. Blake nodded, smiling.

Weiss brushed past them, her heels clacking like bullets as she walked away. Yang bit her lip, looking to Blake. The other girl shook her head, reached over to squeeze Ruby's shoulder, and led them after their teammate.

[*]

"Yang." Blake watched her pace back and forth, fingers curled around the edges of the bedspread.

Yang didn't respond, biting into the inside of her cheek. It had been four days. She'd tried to give Weiss her space. Grief was something everyone had to handle in their own time. But she'd barely seen Weiss in those three days, not at meals or practices or the spaces in-between, and Ruby had just messaged saying Weiss hadn't been sleeping either. On one hand she knew she shouldn't pry. She and Weiss were getting a lot better at not getting on each other's nerves, but Yang didn't think that would hold up if she went to Weiss the wrong way. Problem was, she didn't have any idea what the right way was.

"We gotta say something," Yang muttered. "She can't just not sleep."

"Maybe she can't," Blake said.

Yang growled. There had to be something they could do. Sleep wasn't optional, and it sounded like Weiss wasn't really eating either.

Blake stood, reaching out to frame Yang's face with her hands. "She won't take it well, if we try to talk to her about it."

Deflating, Yang nodded. "I know. But...."

People trying to talk about it hadn't helped Yang, not when Summer disappeared and not when she lost her arm. She hadn't been eating or sleeping much then, either. She'd taken care of Ruby back then, and spent a lot of time staring at the ceiling after Beacon. She _knew_ that sometimes other people reaching out didn't mean you were ready to take the hand they offered. But Weiss was her teammate, her family, and Yang couldn't just let that go without even trying.

"But you have to try," Blake murmured, almost reading her mind. She leaned in for a kiss, then pulled back, nodding. "Alright. We'll try."

Yang leaped at the opportunity, leading the way to Ruby and Weiss' room. Ruby was at the gym with Ren and Nora, and Yang had a brief thought about calling her back. It didn't take her long to decide otherwise. Ruby and Weiss got on each other's nerves even when things were going well.

Weiss answered after the second knock. If Yang hadn't been looking for it, she might have missed the way Weiss' hand didn't leave the doorframe, how her fingers flexed around it to keep herself upright. The shadows under her eyes would have been obvious either way, and her skin looked almost grey, the way pale people's did when they weren't sleeping enough.

"Yes?" Ice still radiated off of her even through her tiredness, and Yang held back a flinch.

"Can we come in?" Blake asked.

Weiss' eyes flicked from Yang to Blake, then back. She rolled her jaw, nodding.

The hotel room Weiss and Ruby shared felt wrong. Yang couldn't put her finger on it, but something was off. She squinted around at it while Weiss led them to the living room area, and it clicked. Nothing of Weiss' was here. It was all either Ruby or just hotel stuff. Even while Weiss and Blake had been in Mistral, there'd been a few things here and there. Now, nothing.

Weiss sat on the armchair, moving stiffly the way Yang only ever saw her move right after a rough practice. The corner of her eye twitched, and Yang saw the way she kept on jolting tiny bits to keep herself awake. After Blake's refusal to sleep while they were still at Beacon - and Ruby's occasional caffeine-fueled engineering binges back at Signal - Yang knew the signs.

"You really haven't been sleeping, have you?" Yang blurted out.

Straightening her shoulders, Weiss took a deep breath. "I'm doing just fine, thank you."

"Everyone needs sleep," Blake said quietly.

Weiss looked like she wanted to point out that Blake wasn't one to talk, but knew that they'd point out how that had ended: with Yang _making_ her sleep.

"I'm fine," Weiss repeated, "and if that's all you came to say, I have things to do."

"Weiss...." Yang bit the inside of her cheek to keep herself from reaching out. She shivered, practically able to feel the ice coming off of her teammate.

"Thank you for your concern," Weiss said, standing, "but I'm _fine_."

Yang got to her feet, rocking back and forth on her heels. She took a hesitant step forward. Weiss eyed her. Yang took another step, then folded Weiss in her arms.

She expected Weiss to shove her away, squirm out of her grip, maybe even punch her. Instead, the other girl slumped forward and into her. Yang held her up, one foot scooting back to compensate for the sudden weight.

"Weiss...?" Yang pulled her in closer, wrapping an arm around her waist.

Weiss took one deep, shuddering breath. Blake came up behind her, propping her up from the other side. Yang stroked her palm down Weiss's back, at a loss. She hadn't expected her to cave this easily, or to just... fall into Yang's arms.

"Come on," Blake said, jerking her head towards one of the beds. "Lay down and get some rest."

"Can't sleep," Weiss mumbled.

Yang helped Blake get Weiss over to her bed, tipping her onto it. Weiss curled her fingers into Yang's shirt, clinging to her. Shooting a helpless look at Blake, Yang laid down next to her. All the tension flowed out of Weiss' body in a long exhale, and Yang molded herself to the other girl.

"We've got you." Blake slid in on the other side, gently pulling Weiss' hair out of her face. "Rest."

Between one breath and another, Weiss slipped into sleep. Yang brushed her lips over Weiss' temple, Blake rested her cheek against the top of Weiss' head, and together they kept watch.


	82. Mortality

Weiss didn't show up to breakfast, but she made an appearance at lunch, and sat down with them for dinner. Makeup covered the worst of the tiredness under her eyes, but her movements were still jerky, without the flow they usually had.

That night she came to Yang and Blake's hotel room, head held a little too high and eyes not quite meeting either of theirs. Yang let her in without a word, and Blake lifted her head from her scroll without an objection. Weiss stepped inside, sitting on their bed with her spine as straight as the sword she'd left at the door.

"C'mere," Yang laid down next to her, pulling Weiss down. The other girl relaxed into her a breath at a time, nudging her head in until it rested in the crook of Yang's neck. "It's okay."

Blake clicked off the light, and the three of them drifted off tangled together.

[*]

"Winter made Weiss mercy-kill her."

Yang startled, staring at Blake. Weiss had left the next morning, leaving them to get ready in her own room. As soon as the door shut, Blake had said... that.

"Their family has an ability to summon those they've killed in echoes," Blake stared at the wall, arms wrapped around her legs. "Officially it's limited to Grimm, but that's not all. Winter... wanted Weiss to have her as a weapon."

All the words flew right out of Yang's head. She couldn't even... being able to summon dead family members as ghosts? She didn't think she'd be able to _stop_ summoning Summer. It hurt so badly that her memories of Summer were more story than actual memory, that the image of her face looked like the pictures Taiyang had stored and not like real life. She'd give anything to see her again. 

But... but it would hurt. She knew that. It would hurt again every time. Could you heal like that, with a constant life-like reminder of someone? Would it help, or would it be unhealthy? Had Weiss been summoning Winter, and that's why no one had seen her for days?

Something else clicked, when she thought about things Weiss had been hiding, things she could be.

"She's the Winter Maiden now, isn't she?"

Blake nodded. "She didn't want to tell anyone. I knew you'd guess."

After having Weiss sleep next to them, far colder than she had been before, yeah Yang could have guessed. Yang knew she ran hot and basically everyone but Taiyang felt cool to her, but Weiss had gone from a little chillier than Blake to outright icy. Between that and knowing Winter was the last Maiden, and that Maiden powers went to the last person they thought about when dying, Yang would have figured it out eventually.

Yang laughed disbelievingly, shaking her head. "We've got three days before the Kaleidescope Festival."

Three days before they had to get everything in gear to take out someone who had already beaten them once. Yeah, they'd know who the real enemy was this time, but there was no way to know who'd back Cinder up and who wouldn't. Someone at Haven had to have been on her side during the Vytal Festival since they'd gotten her team into the Festival despite not being students, but were they still helping her? Did she have CRDL on her side or did Sky Lark just have a sugar momma? They'd all kind of fallen into taking Neo's word that Cinder would be at the Kaleidoscope Festival because they didn't have much of a choice, but they were flying blind in almost every other way. And now, they had the Winter Maiden on their side - maybe two; Yang didn't know if the ghosts Weiss could summon were helpful in battle - but she was new to her powers and in pain.

"We'll figure it out," Blake said, quietly confident. "Come here."

Yang sat next to Blake, searching golden eyes. She wanted to believe they would. They couldn't have lost so much only to fail now, right? But doubts floated up from the back of her mind, reminding her that they'd already lost once, and Cinder was more powerful now than she had been. What happened if they couldn't take her down?

Blake stroked gentle fingers along her jaw. "I know it's hypocritical for me to say this, but you can't think about it right now. We're doing everything we can."

Huffing out a laugh, Yang ducked her head. "Yeah. I just...."

"I know."

Blake pulled her down to lay next to her, and Yang closed her eyes. They'd get through this. They had to.


	83. Calm Before The Storm

The next two days passed in a blur of activity. They had to train, plan, and equip themselves, all while still kind of trying to stay under the radar. They could get away with a lot since they were almost all registered to fight in the Vytal Festival, but they couldn't mix the teams much.

"So," Ruby squinted at the diagram Blake had drawn of the Haven stadium being used for the Kaleidoscope Festival, "RNJR and CFVY are going to be in the locker rooms, while Weiss and Neopolitan try to spot Cinder from the stands." No one asked Neopolitan if she was planning to fight, or how she'd get her umbrella in the stadium if she was. Yang didn't really want to know. "SSSN is going to wait outside the stadium and wait for our signal--"

"I'll be sending up a flare," Blake said.

"--and the professors have professors' permits to keep their weapons inside it. Weiss is going to use her Atlas military card to get her and Blake inside with their weapons and Dust." Ruby tilted her head this way and that. "And then when the fight starts...."

"We'll deal with security," Taiyang said, speaking for himself, Port, Qrow, Oobleck, and Goodwitch, "and anything else weird that shows up."

Like the dragon that came out of nowhere last time, or the White Fang. Blake told them that the White Fang wouldn't be showing up, but no one knew where the dragon Grimm had even come from, if Cinder had summoned it or if it had shown up with the rest of the Grimm because of her announcement and the despair that followed it.

"Yang will be with us," Coco said. They'd snuck her and Sun in for this one group meeting the day before the Kaleidoscope Festival, not wanting to risk secondhand plans being explained wrong, or having to send messages about it. "We're keeping the perimeter locked down."

"We'll be your backup against Cinder," Sun flashed a thumbs-up and a smile.

"We'll take on the Lionhearts," Weiss said tightly.

It had been a long fight to get Weiss to agree to fighting the Lionhearts instead of going directly for Cinder. She might have lost against Ken Lionheart years ago, but that was before she knew his Semblance. Weiss and Blake were the best pair against two people who ignored Semblance and Aura. There were a few other choices (like Sun, who mostly relied on hand to hand, or Goodwitch, who didn't use her Semblance directly on people), but there either wasn't a good partner for them who could operate without Aura and Semblance, or they were irreplaceable in their team. Blake's clones wouldn't fool the Lionhearts but she could still use them to maneuver, and Weiss was easily the strongest Dust caster they had. They hadn't had to fight Weiss on the tactics of it, but convincing her that she had to take out the Lionhearts before getting to her sister's killer had taken hours.

(And really, who else could have and _would_ have killed Winter? The hospital said that the poison used on her was rare, expensive, and illegal globally, even in the parts of Vacuou where the list of laws was short enough to fit in a single thin book. It could have been someone else, but the timing was too perfect. Weiss wouldn't hear of anyone else being responsible for it, and Yang couldn't blame her.)

"And then..." Ruby took a deep breath. "And then we kill Cinder."

The words dropped like stones into the room. That had been another series of discussions, explaining what they were doing with Cinder and why. The adults had agreed immediately, and CFV hadn't taken long, but SSSN were still uncomfortable. They hadn't lost anything in Beacon's fall, hadn't seen Cinder's power, and they'd only fought Grimm until evacuation. To them, anyone could be beaten, and Cinder should be brought in. Yang understood, but knew it wasn't possible.

"Well," Qrow drawled, breaking the tension. "I'm gonna go get completely drunk, and I'll see all of you tomorrow."

Goodwitch muttered something that sounded like, _'you're always drunk'_ , but followed him out anyway. Everyone else wandered out soon after, Coco and Sun going back to their teams, Ruby going to RNJ's room, and Weiss pulling out her scroll with a look that said she needed to take care of some business.

Blake's fingers wound into Yang's. Yang smiled, knowing exactly what they both needed, and led her back to their room.

[*]

That night, Yang stared up at the ceiling. Her right arm lay on the bedstand next to her scroll, and Blake curled up against her, completely asleep.

Tomorrow, they'd be fighting for their lives. People would get hurt. They might not all make it back.

Was this the life of a Hunter? She lifted her flesh hand to the ceiling, flexing her fingers and watching as muscles moved under her skin. Was this what other, younger Hunters would be in for someday? Risking their lives because one person decided they wanted more than they'd gotten? Would it start all over again when someone else got more power than caring?

She stared into the darkness long into the night, but the ceiling didn't have any answers for her.


	84. First Clash

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I've finished writing the first draft of the very last chapters. I'll be posting them at a rate of one every other day as I edit them. Chapter Eighty-Nine is the last one in this story. Thank you for sticking with me.

"...And their opposition, Team CFVY: Coco Adel, Fox Alistair, Velvet Scarletina, and Yang Xiao Long!"

The crowd, cheering loudly just a second ago, murmured as soon as Yang's name was announced. She grit her teeth, staring down at the gravel beneath her feet. That answered the question of whether or not they'd remember the Vytal Festival. If everything went as planned, she'd be able to gain back some trust today. Fixing what people thought of her was pretty far down the list as far as why she was doing this, but it didn't mean it wasn't on there at all. She did still want to be a Hunter after everything, and she couldn't do that if people thought of her as the girl who broke legs when she felt like it.

"Neopolitan says she's spotted Cinder," Weiss reported over the radio. She'd gotten them all earpieces, ones that could be set to always transmitting, or activated by Aura. They couldn't reach outside the stadium due to some kind of interference in the walls, but they were useful inside it.

"She looks like Salmon Pink," Blake added.

"Are we sure Salmon Pink is actually Cinder Fall?" Jaune asked.

"Neopolitan also says she's going to bait her, just in case," Weiss said a moment later.

Several people asked at the same time what that meant, only to get their answer when a commotion started up in one of the spectator boxes. Yang whipped her head around to see Neopolitan flipping over the head of someone that looked a lot like Cardin Winchester, dodging an arrow shot by... yeah, that was Cinder.

"You owe me free drinks for life for this, Xiao Long," Coco hissed. Then she announced, "We forfeit!"

Blake's flare launched into the air and ignited, exploding into light. Everyone who hadn't noticed the fight in the spectator box saw the flare and confusion started rippling through the crowd. Coco led the charge north towards Cinder's box. CFVY was supposed to control the perimeter and keep any of Cinder's allies from helping her against RNGR. Like Cardin, who was already calling up his fire and aiming it right at Neopolitan's back.

Things Yang never thought she'd end up doing: attacking Cardin Winchester to stop him from hitting Neopolitan. He twisted out to knock her shot out of the way with his shield, but he didn't get off a flame blast, so Yang counted it as a win. His mouth twisted to shout something rude, not that she could hear it over the crowd.

Fox landed in front of Cardin, lashing out with a kick meant to drive him back. Velvet stepped into the space behind Fox, pulling Gambol Shroud out of her camera with a flare of hardlight. Without even a shared glance, Coco and Yang landed on the other side of Cardin, squaring off against Russel Thrush and Dove Bronzewing. Yang couldn't see Sky Lark, the most dangerous member in a situation like this where he probably didn't care about who he hit with his mist, but there was no time to think about it.

Russel tore through the air towards them, body tucked into a tight ball and daggers leading as he spun. Yang stepped up to deflect him with a sharp whine of impacted metal, her right arm taking the brunt of the blow. One of the cheap plastic stadium chairs snapped underneath Russel's weight when he bounced off of her, his eyes going wide at the sight of her arm. Yang snarled, getting back into stance. Pyrrha had taken on this entire team once back at Beacon. Yang could do it now.

Shots rang out, Yang twisting to avoid the worst of Dove's bullets while Coco slid past her, slamming her bag into the side of Russel's head to make him stay down. Behind them heat hissed and spat while the tell-tale snap of Velvet's hardlight Gambol Shroud copy sliced through the air. Dove lunged forward, teeth bared. 

Yang danced around Dove, getting his rhythm. He'd gotten better since Beacon, more confident in his swordwork, but Yang had been fighting better swordsmen since she could strap on a gauntlet. She thought she had his measure, only to have him vault into the air, taking aim. Yang thrust her arms behind her, using Ember Celica to blast herself upward. Two could play that game.

Semblance, Aura, and the occasional shot from Ember Celica kept them in the air trading blows. Yang wove herself around his strikes, barely taking enough damage to start charging her Semblance. He was more used to airborne combat, but Yang was the better fighter, patiently wearing him down. It wasn't long before she saw her opening and took it, driving her gauntleted fist hard into his gut. Air rushed out of his lungs and he dropped to the ground like a stone, Yang landing next to him.

All around her, people screamed and ran for the exits. Smoke curled around a cluster of chairs that Cardin had set on fire while fighting Fox and Velvet, and there was a massive hole in one wall from something Yang hadn't seen. She caught a glimpse of Qrow fighting something that Yang wanted to hope wasn't a Grimm, but knew better. Cinder had used them as a weapon before, she would do it again. Across the stadium a flash of white-blue announced Weiss using ice Dust, and Yang could see Blake dart in and out as she fought a yellow-haired Hunter.

Yang scanned the fight for Cinder, only to see her standing on top of the spectator box, Sky Lark at her side. The Fall Maiden smirked out into the crowd, and raised a gas mask to her face. Sky Lark raised his chin, and a thick white mist started to spread.


	85. Through The Mist

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> None of the new end battle participants will be tagged in Enter The Dragon. For example, it's unfair to tag this work Sky Lark when he only shows up in the eighty-fourth chapter and doesn't get any speaking lines, because people who are genuinely looking for Sky Lark content won't get it here. Sorry if that bothers anyone.

Yang fumbled in her pockets. Nobody had been able to bring in a full gas mask the way Cinder had, but a small rebreather was easy enough to hide, and goggles were a common piece of Hunter equipment. It wouldn't stop Sky's hallucinations from hitting them, but Blake said it would slow them down.

"Masks on!" Coco snapped over the radios, alerting everyone.

Sky's mist expanded over the entire spectator box, sinking rapidly to cover the stands. Yang didn't know how much mist he could make. She'd only heard him talk about it once, and hadn't really been listening. It wasn't like she was ever going to fight him, or fight with him, so why would it matter if she knew?

"They're just standing up there," Fox said, he and Velvet coming to form up with them before the mist could cover them. Part of why CFVY had planned to hold the perimeter was Fox's hearing and scent. It wouldn't help if he started hallucinating too, but if they kept to the edges they could keep people from getting in or out.

The four of them winced as a Grimm let out an inhuman screech. Yang glanced over to see Taiyang standing on top of a massive Beowulf, pounding his katar into it again and again while Oobleck hammered at its legs. They had it.

Yang couldn't see Ruby, no matter where she looked. The civilians were being evacuated by a combination of stadium security and Goodwitch, and Weiss and Blake were on the other side of the stadium fighting the Lionhearts, but as far as Yang knew, RNJR had been trying to get at Cinder when Sky released his mist.

Before Yang could say anything over the radio, SSSN rushed past her.

"What are you doing?" Yang reached out, only to be stopped by Fox's hand on her shoulder.

"One of them is manipulating the mist," Fox said. "Neptune, I think."

That had been another thing they couldn't count on, whether or not Neptune's water-manipulation Semblance could counter Sky's mist. Fine control wasn't something Neptune was good at, and Semblances interacted strangely, so they couldn't have known in advance.

"I can keep a bubble clear for us," Neptune reported over the radio, his team now in range, "but we're gonna have to stick together, and I can't fit anybody else!"

Yang bit into the inside of her cheek. "RNJR, how's it going?"

"Some jerks showed up and got in our way!" Ruby reported immediately, Crescent Rose's report echoing over the radio, "They look like the guys who attacked you and Coco. We can't get through them!"

CFVY exchanged looks. The Blue Silk gang hadn't been able to stand up to even Coco and Yang taking it easy on them. There was no way they should be giving RNJR any trouble.

"That does not sound like the guys we left in that alley," Coco muttered without activating her radio.

"Where are you?" Yang asked.

"East side of the spectator box," Ren said.

The other side of Sky's mist, which CFVY was supposed to be keeping an eye on.

"Go," Coco said, nodding to her. "We can keep it clear."

Yang flashed her a smile, and took off at a sprint.

Her first instinct was to take off using Ember Celica and throw herself over the mist to get to RNJR directly, but with flying Grimm overhead she couldn't risk it. She punched a passing gang member in the head - definitely Blue Silk, and definitely a chump - and vaulted a few rows of chairs to get around Sky's mist.

When she could finally see RNJR, the problem got real clear real fast: the gang members they were fighting were faster, stronger, and judging by the way one of them shrugged off Ren's strike, they had Aura. Yang leaped in, punching one girl in the stomach and kicking another in the side of the head.

"Yang!" Ruby called, darting to her side.

"I got your back."

Ruby nodded, turning to slam the butt of her scythe into a guy's chest. "Do you have any Dust left?"

"Yup. Haven't used any yet."

"Alright." Ruby hit her comm. "Form up! Pink Lemonade!"

Yang reached into one of her pockets, pulling out a tiny vial of lightning Dust. She'd started out learning on ice Dust because that's what Weiss was best with, but Yang did better with fire or lightning. Lightning Dust didn't do much for her other than giving people who tried to touch her a shock, but if she fought close to Nora it gave the other girl a boost.

Together, Nora and Yang cut right through the Aura-wielding Blue Silk. RNJR had mostly been having a hard time because they were outnumbered, but with Yang helping out and Nora getting stronger, it didn't take long until everyone wearing gang colors was sprawled out on the ground.

"Xiao Long," Coco said over comms. "Velvet says she can disperse the mist, but only for a few seconds, so if you're gonna use that secret weapon of yours, now is the time."

Yang bared her teeth, pulsing Aura through her right arm to transform it into the cannon she'd had built into it. "You got it. Everybody else, get ready in case this doesn't work."

Energy swirled in blue-white streaks around the barrel of her cannon, fusing together into a massive ball of light too bright to look at directly. Yang couldn't help but whoop out a laugh as her hair whipped at her face, the lightning from her Semblance feeding into the cannon. "Velvet, now!"

The mist blew away, revealing Velvet on the other end with a giant hardlight battle fan. Standing on top of the spectator box was Sky Lark, who for some reason hadn't moved.

"Eat this, asshole," Yang muttered, and let loose.


	86. Delaying Tactics

Energy screamed through the air, hitting Sky Lark directly in the chest. He flew backward, high and far enough that Yang figured he was probably out of the stadium entirely. 

She popped the backup battery out of her cannon, letting it fall to the ground. The cannon battery was as big as her entire forearm, so she could only do this once per fight. Another burst of Aura turned the cannon back into her arm, and Yang flexed her fingers to check and make sure they feel right. It was always disorienting when she put her arm into cannon-mode.

"Yang!" 

Gambol Shroud's ribbon appeared in front of her, and Yang grabbed it without thinking. She twisted to go along with it, seeing a blast of fire hit where she was just standing.

"I do _not_ appreciate you being so rude, Yang," Cinder purred, a halo of flame flickering around her body. "If you were jealous, you need only say so."

Yang landed with a flip, letting go of the ribbon. She growled, taking aim with Ember Celica. "Jealous this."

Cinder wove around her shotgun blasts like they were rocks thrown by a child, barely moving to evade them. She looked more Grimm than human, the fire distorting her body shape and reflecting off of her eyes. Sun lunged at her in a yellow-white blur, and she flicked him away as if he were no more than a fly.

"This is Sage," came an unfamiliar voice over the comms. "I've got Sun. I'm taking him and Scarlet to the hospital."

Yang's heart jumped into her throat.

"Neptune here. I'm staying with you guys."

More and more shots rang out as everyone else noticed Cinder. Instead of moving to avoid them, she built up the fire around her until she was only a woman-shaped wraith. The shots caused little flares in her fire, but if they were hitting Cinder herself, or even her Aura, Yang couldn't see it.

"Rose, we've got people on the perimeter who say they're here to help," Coco reported.

"Why do you sound like that's not a good thing?" Ruby gritted out, adding gravity Dust to her shots. She got a bigger flare of fire, but Cinder just stood in place like before.

"It's Black and Sustrai."

"At this point we could use the help," Qrow grunted. On the northeast side of the stadium, the professors were fighting what looked like an endless tide of Grimm. Taiyang had swelled to twice his normal size, and Yang bit the inside of her cheek to keep from calling out. His Semblance let him get bigger and stronger as the fight went on, but the longer he used it, the harder it was for him to keep control. Even in the worst stories he'd told, he hadn't been that much taller than everyone around him.

Neptune's voice crackled over the comms. "Neopolitan says she called them."

"She couldn't have told us that before?" Yang was caught between wanting to charge Cinder, wanting to help her dad, and wanting to back up Weiss and Blake. She knew Cinder would just knock her out like she had Sun, and knew Taiyang, Weiss, or Blake would call for help if they needed it. Still, they were her family and they were in trouble.

"Are we letting them through or what?" Coco asked, voice tight.

Ruby stopped firing, staring at Cinder for a few seconds. "Yeah. Let them through."

Cinder laughed, her voice distorted. "Is that all you have? Disappointing. At least make this interesting."

Emerald ran straight up to Cinder, while Mercury came up to Ruby. Yang clenched her fists. Now was not the time to try breaking his nose along with breaking his fake legs.

"I hope you've got something good, Rose," Mercury drawled, "'cause Em's 'come back into the fold' talk isn't gonna work, and we're only good enough to keep her busy for maybe a minute when she's like this."

Before Ruby could answer, Weiss landed nearby, supporting Blake. Yang immediately dropped to one knee besides her partner, not at all liking the pained expression on Blake's face.

"I'm okay," Blake gritted out, trying to sit straight in the chair Weiss put her in.

"She's bleeding but too stubborn to let Goodwitch evacuate her," Weiss said crisply. Yang could feel the cold coming off of her, and when she looked up, she could see it radiating from Weiss' body. "She is _not_ to get back into the fight."

Blake growled, but didn't argue, which said everything about how hurt she really was.

"Neptune," Ruby cut in, "can you make a storm?"

The blue-haired boy startled, "Yeah? I mean, I'd need a lot of fire Dust to do it, since it's clear skies."

Weiss immediately held out a handful of Schnee-grade fire Dust. "Here."

"Alright," Ruby stood up straight, turning on her communicator. "Neptune, you're going to start up a storm. Nora and Ren, you're going to charge up Yang. Coco, Fox, Velvet, Mercury, Emerald, and Neo are going to keep Cinder busy while we charge up. And then... Everyone's going to give it everything they have." She looked at Weiss, holding her eyes the way Ruby only did when she was making the hard team leader calls. "Everything."

Weiss started, eyes going wide. A second later she nodded, readjusting her grip on Myrtenaster. "Understood."

"Don't think this puts you in charge of us, Rose," Mercury said, walking towards Cinder, "but you've got a good plan. C'mon, Neo, let's go see if we can put Mommy down for a nap."

Neo shoved Mercury hard as she went past, but the two of them moved to stand behind Emerald without saying another word.

Nora and Ren stood next to Yang as she reluctantly stood up. She didn't want to leave Blake like this, but she knew Blake wouldn't leave without someone forcing her to. The temperature around them went from warm and dry to chilly and humid as Neptune and Weiss both started working. Yang tried to focus completely on the current flowing between her, Ren, and Nora, but she couldn't help looking over at conversation between Emerald and Cinder.

"I don't think you get to make demands after you leave, darling," Cinder purred, her eyes boring into Emerald's. "I rather think that's the point of calling off an arrangement."

"Cinder," Emerald stared at Cinder, pleading, "you don't have to do this. All these people... they don't deserve this. You could just...."

"What, retire?" Cinder's laughter echoed unnaturally, the fire around her rippling. "Maybe if you ask nicely." She smirked, expression visible even through the haze. "You always were good at that."

Mercury and Neopolitan took up positions behind Emerald, and Cinder's smirk deepened.

"Alright," she chuckled. "Let's see what you've learned since you've been gone."


	87. Setting Up The Fall

Emerald, Mercury, and Neopolitan lunged forward, the fight too fast for Yang to closely watch while still keeping her focus on the current between her, Ren, and Nora. She felt about halfway to the overcharge point, and bit the inside of her lip to keep from telling Ren to go faster. She knew he was doing the best he can.

Overhead, the clouds thickened and darkened, a wintery chill blowing down from them. The ground around Weiss started to form frost, and she had Myrtenaster held in a meditative pose. A glyph spun in front of her, one Yang hadn't seen before, slowly picking up speed. Next to her, Ruby had her eyes shut tight and was muttering under her breath. Nora's hands tightened on Yang's, and a shudder passed through the three of them.

Neopolitan went flying out of the fight, landing two levels down. She crashed through three chairs on her way down, plastic screeching. Yang couldn't see where she landed, but she hoped the other girl wasn't dead. She didn't know what the perfect answer was for the question of Neopolitan, but it wasn't death.

It was down to Emerald and Mercury fighting Cinder two on one. They flowed in and out of Cinder's space, Cinder's glassteel swords keeping up with them without a pause. Cinder barely moved, deflecting both metal greaves and sickles. It was all hand-to-hand, with Emerald's Semblance probably not working, Mercury too close to use his, and Cinder not bothering to use anything other than her swords and the flames surrounding her body.

Between one second and the next, one of Cinder's blades cut one of Mercury's fake legs off at the knee, her sword cutting through the prosthetic like butter. She backhanded him before he could finish falling, and he skidded across the pavement. Her foot lashed out to catch Emerald squarely in the chest, the wind visibly going out of her and her scythes clattering to the ground.

Cinder stalked over to her, Emerald struggling to get to her feet. She only succeeded in getting onto her knees.

With a flick of her wrist, Cinder's sword rested at the top of Emerald's throat, flat of the blade pushing upward to keep her chin high. A single drop of blood welled up, then slid down her neck. Emerald said something that Yang couldn't hear. Cinder shook her head. She let the flames die down, only a hint of them lighting her eyes.

"I know, darling." Cinder pulled the sword back, holding it at the ready across her body. "Now perish."

Before anyone could move, a blur of silver-grey barreled into Cinder's side. They both went flying, Cinder rolling to her feet and Mercury collapsing into a heap a few feet away.

"Don't you fuckin' touch 'er," Mercury slurred, trying to push himself upward. His face was a bloody mess, gravel embedded into the skin, and a long slash visible through his shirt, bleeding freely. "I'll fuckin' kill you C'nder, swear I will."

Cinder tilted her head, pulling up flames to coat her body again. "How sweet. I didn't know you cared."

"Like you'd fuckin' know," Mercury snarled. "Like you paid any fuckin' attention!"

She laughed, flicking her blade clean of Emerald's blood. "Why would I have bothered?"

Coco, Velvet, and Fox took that moment to jump into the fight. Their attack was a perfect three-Hunter formation: Velvet and Fox as the pincers, Coco coming in the middle. Cinder cut right through all of them with a single attack, lighting her swords on fire and showing just how seriously she wasn't taking any of this. The three Hunters flew backwards and into the stands.

"I'm alive." Coco coughed wetly into the comms. Fox and Velvet muttered the same. "We're not... we're not gonna be any more help, though. Hope you're ready, Rose."

"Yang?" Ruby asked tightly, opening her eyes to reveal bright grey.

Yang shook her head, not able to speak. She wasn't there yet. Fuck, if only.

"Weiss?"

The glyph at Weiss' feet flared, and a ghostly hand reached up through the ground. A slender form climbed up and out of it, and Yang nearly lost her connection to the circuit. She'd known that Weiss had the ability to summon her dead sister, but it was nothing like seeing the pure white form of Winter Schnee take up a stance in front of Weiss.

"I'm ready." Weiss' voice was pure cold, the killing kind found in the deepest winters in the furthest reaches of the world.

Behind them, Neptune slumped to the ground with a gasp, and Yang could hear the sound of a Dust crystal hitting the ground. Only his heavy breathing let her know he was alive. Snow formed around Weiss, shrouding her in a haze of white. Ruby stepped up at her side, eyes shining.

"It's time to end it," Weiss said. Ruby didn't argue.

Weiss, Winter, and Ruby readied their weapons, and charged forward.


	88. Hamartia

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I've added 'Major Character Death' to the tags. There's an explanation at the end for anyone who needs it. Take care of yourselves.

Steel on steel on steel. Ice and fire. Glyphs. Rose petals. 

Yang forced herself to breathe deeply, to accept the energy sent thrumming through her. She felt the current increase, and looked over at Ren.

"I have to go faster," he whispered, sweat trailing down his face despite the cold.

"Ren, no," Nora said, face gone pale. He shook his head, not responding.

Cinder twirled, weapons blurring through bow, swords, scimitar, even a sword longer than she was tall. Ruby swiped at her, shot at her, pushed her Semblance so hard she was more red streak than person. Weiss and Winter fought in perfect harmony, glyphs flaring and swords striking. None of it struck true.

"Did you really think it would be that easy?" Cinder purred. She started to levitate, feet leaving the ground as fire ignited around her.

"No," Weiss said tightly, ice starting to form around her, "but I don't think it will be that hard, either."

"Almost done," Ren mumbled, sounding almost drunk. Tears started to leak down Nora's cheeks. Words tried to form in Yang's mind, but she couldn't speak and take the energy at the same time. She knew Ren shouldn't be doing this. She knew.

Sparks played out over her skin, Yang's Semblance greedily drinking in the pain. She gritted her teeth, holding Nora's washed-out hand as gently as she could.

"Ready?" Nora asked, her voice distorted by pain and power and Ren's Semblance. Tears shone white-gold on her face.

"Ready," Yang managed.

Ren let go, Nora hit her with the juice, and

everything slowed to a crawl. she was no longer a being separate from the world, she was the world and everything in it. vague memories of her arm being attached crept up, and she brushed them away. this was not that. this was transcendance, a word that danced over her mind with joy, causing a giggle to bubble up in her throat.

behind her, ren fell. she could feel his blood in the air. she inhaled through her nose, scenting iron and fear, and exhaled through her mouth, tasting love and determination. he was a good man. had been a good man.

nora called her name in slow motion. yang stood, feeling herself nearly lift off of the ground with the force of it. her voice was so slow, but nora moved just as quickly as yang. they charged the _a b o m i n a t i o n_ as one. electricity seared out of nora, catching the maiden's attention. yang snarled. they were going to kill her.

close by lay blake. her blood flooded the air, life leaking from her. yang had already watched her almost bleed out because she wasn't strong enough. not again. never again.

she screamed and heard something pop, saw nora move with her. they struck as one and

she

missed.

something heavy struck the back of her head, shattering her semblance, and color bled back into the world.

The last thing Yang saw before blackness claimed her was hair as red as blood, as her sister's screams echoed in her ears.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Lie Ren dies.
> 
> I'm sorry. It's almost over.


	89. As The Dust Settles

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's over.

"Is Blake still asleep?"

Yang didn't open her eyes when Weiss asked. She was so, so tired. She reached out blindly for Weiss' hip, and drew her in.

Instead of pulling away after a bit, Weiss leaned into her, crossing her arms over her chest. She hummed in acknowledgement of Yang's non-answer, going quiet.

Blake had been asleep since they'd taken her to the hospital. The nurses reported she'd woken up once, just after they'd finished stitching her up, but Yang and Weiss had both been passed out. In the day since, she'd been sleeping. The doctors said not to worry. Yang couldn't not worry.

"I have more reports, once she's awake."

Yang had gotten just enough information out of Weiss and Ruby to know that yeah, they really had lost Ren, and no, they hadn't lost anyone else. She knew that once she was less tired, Ren's death was going to hit her hard, but her bones ached and her throat burned, and Blake was still asleep. There wasn't any room for anything else.

Whatever noise she'd made when she was in super-Semblance mode, it had torn her throat open. She could talk, if she wanted to swallow glass while she did it. The nurses were very serious about her not talking, and Yang was tired enough to even go with it. Her family knew what she needed right now. She didn't need words yet.

Ruby was mobile. She'd been in and out of the hospital room Yang and Blake shared, deep circles under her eyes like everyone else. She looked the least hurt out of any of them, if you could ignore the three fingers missing on her right hand, and the way she stared at people's mouths while they talked. For the first time Yang could remember, Ruby sat more than she stood, swaying when she was on her own feet. Weiss said her likelihood of recovery was good, but she would likely need hearing aids for a long time, if not permanently. The fingers she was going to get replaced. Ruby already had plans for them.

Weiss shouldn't be walking, if the glares she got from the nurses meant anything. Yang could tell there was a hitch in her step, and she also sat way more than she stood. She avoided questions a lot harder than Yang pushed for answers, but if she sat in just the right light Yang could see silvery snowflake patterns tracing over one ear and back into her hairline. Maiden thing, probably.

Yang's throat was bad and she was tired, but everything else was just aches and pains. Blake hadn't woken up yet, and she was bandaged from cheekbone down to collarbone. They were all a little fucked up.

Sleep came and went. She could tell even half-asleep when Weiss or Ruby was in the room, and Blake's presence stayed just where it was, in the hospital bed next to hers. It was sunset when Blake finally stirred, making little waking-up noises as she did.

"Yang?" Her voice broke, an unused rasp instead of Yang's broken-mumble. Yang pulled herself to sit up, reaching out to tug on Blake's sheets.

Blake turned to face her, slowly blinking her way out of a sleep and medication haze. Her eyes flicked over Yang's face, then her hospital gown, then down to her own body. She reached up to touch her bandages, only to stop when Yang tugged her sheets again. Yang shook her head, not sure if her voice was working just yet.

"What..." She coughed, clearing her throat. "What...?"

Yang rolled over to grab her scroll, hating that her throat was too ruined to comfort her girlfriend. She pulled up Weiss' number and called her, reaching over to put the scroll up to Blake's ear.

Blake blinked at her a few times, then her face cleared when Weiss answered. "Weiss?"

On the other side of the phone Yang could hear something crash, and then Weiss said, "I will be right there," before the click of an empty line.

Yang took her scroll back, putting it on the bedside table. In slow, careful movements, she got up out of bed, walked over to Blake's left side, and crawled into bed with her. Luckily, both bandages and IV were on her right side, so Yang didn't have to keep track of any of it. She was too dizzy to be sure she'd remember.

Blake's arm came to wrap around her shoulders, familiar and safe. She relaxed into Yang, both of them waiting for Weiss.

Weiss brought Ruby, who hovered anxiously at Blake's bedside before leaning down to carefully hug her. Blake leaned against her for a moment, both of them conscious of Blake's IV and bandages.

When Ruby sat down, Weiss leaned against the foot of Blake's bed. Yang raised an eyebrow, looking from Weiss to the bed, and the other girl rolled her eyes before taking a seat. Good.

"I've acquired the full story, and it's..." Weiss hesitated, "it's difficult to believe."

She started from when she and Blake beat the Lionhearts, filling Blake in on what happened between that and Yang passing out.

"After she knocked you and Nora unconscious," Weiss said, "Cinder fought Ruby and I. We..." She swallowed. "We successfully knocked her down, but were both recovering. Jaune had to... deal the final blow."

Yang closed her eyes. It was over. Cinder Fall was dead.

"What part of that is difficult to believe?" Blake asked.

"Pyrrha woke up in Cinder's body," Ruby blurted out.

"Ruby!"

Yang's eyes flew open, jaw dropping. "What?"

Her broken-mumble voice cut through the fight Weiss and Ruby were working up to. She started coughing, throat on fire, and the room scrambled: Ruby flailed by the bed, Blake rubbed her back, and Weiss brought a cup of water.

Yang took the water, forcing down her cough long enough to get most of it down. The cool water soothed her throat, and she sat back with only a few lingering puffs of air. Once her breathing was back under control, she looked to Weiss, waving her hand for an explanation.

"Jaune gave a poor accounting of what exactly happened," Weiss said, "but as far as anyone can tell, it's Pyrrha."

"How...?" Blake shook her head. "Is that even...?"

"No one knows," Weiss said. "Goodwitch is looking into it."

Yang closed her eyes again, shaking her head. This wasn't what she'd signed up for. She'd wanted an adventure, not a war.

Weiss told them a little about how everyone else was doing, but the words washed over Yang without sinking in. Eventually, Weiss and Ruby left, and Yang cracked an eyelid open to watch them leave.

"How's your throat, Yang?" Blake stroked careful fingers through her hair. Yang shook her head. It still hurt, but sitting up was the worst idea.

Blake sat up, reaching for the bedside table. A protest caught painfully in Yang's throat, and before she could sort that out, Blake had already grabbed the water cup. She took some for herself, then handed it to Yang. Yang mouthed 'thank you' and drained it, handing it back to her girlfriend.

They dozed on and off, exhausted but neither one settling into sleep, before Blake's scroll went off. She checked it and snorted. Yang lifted her head, and Blake tilted the scroll to show her a picture of SSSN, bandaged and laying across three beds, but grinning and whole. Yang laughed, low and pained and cracking in her throat.

"Blake," Yang sounded out her words carefully, finding a pitch and pace that didn't send her into a coughing fit. "We should go back to Mistral. You can go to Haven now that it's not run by assholes, and I'll... I don't know, teach privately." She waved a hand. Going by what Weiss said, people had seen her fighting on the news. That had to be good for something. "We'll get a place by the beach."

"That sounds good." Blake rearranged her blankets and IV, leaning into Yang and closing her eyes.

Yang leaned her head against her partner's, and fell asleep.

_"I think we deserve  
A soft epilogue, my love.  
We are good people  
and we've suffered enough._

-[Seventy Years of Sleep #4](http://cardiamachina.co.vu/post/126917973423/i-think-we-deserve-a-soft-epilogue-my-love), Nikki Ursula

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry.

**Author's Note:**

> It's not over. For those who wish to see more of our battered protagonists, please check out the series Rising At The Fall, which will contain short bridge pieces between Enter The Dragon and Return of The Dragon, and will have Return of the Dragon when that starts. Alternately, come yell at me on [my tumblr](http://fallintolife.tumblr.com/). I'm always down to talk about ETD.
> 
> If you have any ideas about what you'd like to see out of the bridge pieces, or in Return of The Dragon, feel free to comment here, hit me with an ask on tumblr, or comment on one of the bridge pieces. Thank you for reading.


End file.
